Son Shine
by fairytellerxo
Summary: AU S6- When the Sons think they're out of the storm and heading towards days full of Son Shine, they're slapped in the face by headlines and news trucks, swamping the sleepy desert town. It's this news that brings back an old friend and an even more formidable force. Shaking the foundation and changing life as the club once knew it. Will the get through this or will the shine fade?
1. Welcome to Charming

_**Do you ever do this, you think back on all the times you've had with someone and you just replay it in your head over and over again and you look for those first signs of trouble?**_

"Someone let their kid have access to a gun, he shot up his school and the media is going crazy over it." The voice pulled Sunshine out of her head, long enough for her to glance up at the person and give a weak smile before shaking her head slowly. "Aren't you from there? From Charming?"

"I am." Sunshine nodded slowly, placing the cap back on her marker before turning the volume on the large flat screen TV up and grimacing at the visuals that played out in front of her eyes. It was yet another crime and once again Charming was making headlines. It was like she couldn't get further away from it. "That's a damn shame, it's not my worry though, looks like Patterson is on it."

"You're the ADA, she can call you in." The woman smiled softly. "Don't you just wanna get involved and see what's really going on in your hometown?"

"Oh, my dear, you have no idea how badly I wanna go back and see the root of this evil firsthand." She winked. "But, until I'm called, I'm filling out paperwork with you. My dearest Gia and it's your turn to make the lunch run."

Gia groaned, slipping her feet back into her shoes before standing up and straightening out her skirt and blouse. "Anything for you boss. What shall it be today? Healthy or greasy?"

"Greasy." Sunshine stood up, pulling her hair back into a ponytail before shoving her feet into her sneakers. "You dress better than me and I'm higher rank than you."

"I like to call this my undercover starter kit, they have me playing a uppity rich bitch." The blonde shrugged as she looked Sunshine up and down. "Still too bad you're married, I'd do so many bad things to you."

She chuckled as she grabbed her gun from it's safe and slipped it into the holster strapped to her hip. "I am separated, you'd think I'd be able to speed up the divorce process but he doesn't wanna sign, he wants to work it out and drag it out." She shrugged. "I'll go with you. I wanna make sure you go to the good burger joint and not a fast food place. We have nothing to do around here, so I think we can take a few hours and enjoy a burger and a beer."

"Change those lunch plans Vellenueva. You just got a call from Tyne Patterson, she wants you in Charming right now." A tall blonde smiled at the brunette. "It's time for you to actually work today."

"Oh lovely." Sunshine held her fingers to her head and smirked at Gia. "I didn't sign up to work, nope. I signed up and put in the years so I could kick back and prosecute some jackoffs. Now, I haven't been in Charming for _years_. I always fly my aunt here, or she drives or I'll meet her right outside of Charming."

"Well, honey, you're not going to replace Tyne when she retires by sitting on your ass." The blonde nodded. "There's a whole lot of people wanting to take your place."

"I'm well aware of that." She kicked off her sneakers and slipped into a pair of heels before grabbing the suit jacket that was hanging off of her chair. "Gotta look as close to the part of being an Assistant District Attorney as I can." She smiled at the blonde. "I know you're gunning for my job Heather, you are just chomping at the bit to watch me fall huh?"

Heather nodded slowly before shrugging. "I do, I'm still bitter about losing out to you, what can I say?"

"I don't know but I'm taking Gia with me." Sunshine smirked as she moved towards Gia and draped an arm over her shoulder. "Ever great attorney needs a badass cop partner. I think you are mine. You in?"

"Yeah." Gia smiled brightly, tucking her hair behind her ears before glancing back at Heather and flipping her off. "God, I hate that smug bitch so much."

"Same." She pushed through the doors and sighed. "It still annoys me that she calls me Vellenueva and not Sunny like all of you cool people." She chuckled as they walked out into the California sun, that was high in the sky and beating down mercilessly. "We're going to the desert, it's not gonna be fun."

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 _Home sweet home_. Sunshine laughed to herself as she tossed away her cigarette butt and moved towards the crowd of people, pushing through as she shielded her face from the cameras. Her nerves were on edge but she had a surge of adrenaline on the drive over. She was getting a case in Charming, something she sought after since the first time a case file landed on her desk and was subsequently handed over to her male counterpart, now it was her time to shine. "Patterson, you rang."

"I did." Tyna nodded slowly, pointing towards a corner and smiling. "I want you to work with me on this case. I think it has something to do with the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club. We finally may have something to bring the club down. Something that will stick."

She couldn't fight off the devious smile that spread across her lips as she nodded slowly. "The Sons? I'm familiar with them. Why do you think it's them though? Gun registered to a member of the club or a family member?"

Tyne chuckled and shook her head slowly. "No but anything bad that happens in Charming is usually related to the club. I want you to help me question members, family, no one is off limits. If they so much as had a drink with a club member's second cousin, I want them questioned. No one is off limits, remember that."

"Got it." Sunshine nodded slowly, accepting a folder from Tyne before she opened it up and started to flip through its contents before smirking. "You want me to go with you to question Tara Knowles, who is the club president's wife. Or should I say _Old Lady_." She chuckled. "May be a conflict of interest and all. I disclosed all of my connections when I became a lawyer."

"No one cares about that." She shook her head again. "I'm giving you the go ahead to question every single person in that folder. If you need more officers, they're at your disposal. Tara, she's currently in jail, waiting to be released on bail. I know you can have fun with that. Do what you're good at, do what you were hired to do, you're not the ADA for no reason."

She closed the folder and shrugged. "I'm going to have fun with this. You know that I'm all about justice and I'm all about bringing down the bad guys." She smiled as she slipped her sunglasses back on. "I have Gia with me, she's my officer. I like the whole women empowerment thing. Strong women have to stick together. Plus, we can do bad cop, good cop."

"She's a rookie." Tyne shook her head again as she glanced over at Gia before looking back at Sunshine and giving her a single nod. "Are you sure you want to have her as your back up?"

"You remember when you first met me? Everyone doubted me and my skill and you told me that you rooted for the underdog. I think she has potential to do great things and it's sad that no one sees it." She sighed. "Now, let me stop being an emotional little girl and put my big girl panties on, I got some bad guys to bring down. Bad guys that supplied guns to irresponsible criminals and landed in the hands of a _kid_."

"I do remember." The older woman nodded slowly. "Go on, before I change my mind, get your officer into some decent clothes. No one will take her serious if she shows up to arrest them dressed like a hooker."

"That could be a good ploy though." Sunshine smirked. "She blends into the background, no one will suspect her of being a cop and when the arrest needs to be made, she whips out the cuffs from that little purse she carries and reads them their rights. Could be a fun time."

Tyne tried to bite back the laughter but couldn't. "Go on before I change my mind, do what you do and if someone gives you a hard time, don't hesitate to call me. I'll come and help you both out."

"Sounds good." Sunshine moved back towards Gia and grabbed the brunette's hand. "We have someone to question and you need either your uniform on or something decent. No looking like a hooker anymore. I'm sorry babe but Patterson shut down our incognito gig. We have to be big girls now. Big girl panties on, we're happy."

 **SOA**

There was nothing more powerful than the sounds of heels clicking on tile floor. It was the sound that echoed throughout the hallway as Sunshine and Gia made their way towards the interrogation room. After being denied access to Tara the evening before, Sunshine had made sure to come bright and early, to avoid any restrictions on visiting hours. After reading up on the antics that had been going on in Charming, she couldn't staunch the excitement that surged through her veins as she moved into the room.

"Tara Knowles-Teller." Sunshine stared at the back of the brunette's head before moving around the table and taking a seat in the metal chair. Smiling brightly at the stunned look on Tara's face before she dropped the envelope onto the table and cleared her throat. "Long time no see, happy to see that you're doing well in life."

"You've got to be kidding me." Tara looked at the brunette carefully before shaking her head. "I thought the district attorney was coming to meet me."

"Oh, my bad, let me introduce myself to you." She smirked. "Sunshine Vellenueva, _Assistant District Attorney_. I'm doing all the preliminary interviews for my boss, Tyne Patterson, she's a very busy person and this is the least I could do. I have a few questions for you, we can talk freely or you can bring your lawyer in, it's up to you."

"I've talked to her, I have nothing to say to you about anything else and I would love to have my lawyer present for this." Tara growled at the brunette. "I don't know what you would need to know that I haven't already told your boss."

"Oh, no, no." She shook her head slowly as she clicked her pen and looked up from the folder, a smug look on her face. "If anything, I'll just sit here and take in the sight of you in prison get up with a butchered haircut and sorrow in your eyes." She shrugged her shoulders, slightly shifting in the hard metal chair. "Not related to your murder charge, this is about your affiliation to the Sons of Anarchy. Have you ever witnessed any of the members partake in illegal activities?"

"I'm not answering anything until my lawyer is here." Tara turned her head away from the brunette and shrugged. "Not a damn question."

"That's fine, I have all the time in the world." Sunny pulled out a notepad and started to doodle on it. "So, you have kids huh? Do you ever think about what it's going to be like for them when someone else has to raise them? Because you know, I have to put bad people away and from the looks of this, you're a bad person and I can't very well release you Tara. I hope you know that. I wouldn't be doing my job if I let you slip through the cracks. Others may believe that you're innocent but I think you knew what you were getting into. I think you knew the risks and you did it anyways. Love makes women do some crazy out of character things."

"No one but _me_ is going to raise my babies." Tara looked at Sunshine and shook her head. "I'm innocent and I'm going to be released and I'm going to get out of Charming, me and my boys."

The brunette chuckled as she set her pen down and shrugged. "See, you're getting way ahead of yourself and you're not listening to me. You know my record right? I have _never_ lost a case. I put bad guys in jail and I keep kids safe. I'm serious when I say, you're not going to be released. I'm going to see to it. Oh, don't play the ' _this is you being bitter_ ' card either because that was _years_ ago and quite frankly, you did me a favor with taking Jackson off my hands because look at you. Look where you're at. You're a doctor and do you think anyone is going to want to hire a doctor that is an accused criminal, one who has a murder charge hanging about her head? Your life was over the moment you got back with Jackson Teller."

"You're not getting it, I'm going to get out of here, back home to my babies. I made bail, I'm going to be released." Tara nodded eagerly as she looked at the brunette again. "I'm not coming back here. Never."

"Let's see, let's see." Sunshine opened the folder back up, furrowing her brow as she read over the details again, shaking her head slowly as she clicked her tongue. "Shame, shame, shame. I don't know about that. I think I should revoke bail, I think you're a flight risk. Why should I believe that you won't take the kids and flee Charming?"

"You can't do that." She studied the brunette carefully, taking in the expensive jewelry and the suit she was wearing. She also took in the sight of the wedding band and oversized engagement rings on her hands. "I wouldn't do that, I wouldn't do that and give that life to my kids. You got married."

"Oh yeah, someone made an honest woman out of me." She deadpanned before she glanced back up. "I think you'd run. To protect your children, so hide them. Keep them safe from the monster that is your husband and his club. Let's see, I can make you an offer, I can write it up, submit it to your lawyer and you two can make a decision on it. Witness protection, a chance at a new life. Just turn on Jax and his club."

"I'm not a rat." Tara shook her head as the door opened. "I'm not going to turn on my husband or the club."

"Suit yourself." Sunshine stood up. "I'll be back, I'll be in touch. Have your lawyer give me a call. I'd love to run some things by her, maybe she can talk a little sense into you. Do not attach your rail car to a runaway train Tara."

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"I could've swore I told you to get as far away from this place as possible." Happy rasped as he snuck up behind Sunshine, watching her jump slightly before turning around and smiling at him. "What brings you back? You finally miss me?"

Sunshine shook her head slowly. "No, I didn't come back simply because I missed you. I'm here on official business." She smiled and shrugged as she let him pull her into a tight embrace briefly. "If I tell you to get out of town, would you listen to me? Or are you going to stay to see shit hit the fan?"

"I'll probably stay with my brothers." He eyed her carefully as he pulled out of the hug and watched her take a step back. "What's going on?"

"I don't know, about a few branches of law coming for the club." She sighed as she kicked at the rocks beneath her feet. "Hell of a way to reunite huh? I'm still a little peeved that you didn't let us reunite at my wedding. It was lovely by the way, open bar and everything. You could've probably met a decent lady or two there."

"Yeah, I don't do weddings." He lifted her hand and tapped on the rings that weren't on the finger that they should've been on. "What? Not what you pictured when you decided to get married. I would've told you not to waste your time."

"Eh, you know, same shit different man." She rolled her eyes. "He cheated, now we're separated and blah blah. Enough about me. I have business to conduct. I can't look like I'm showing favorites or anything." She turned around and started to walk towards the clubhouse, feeling Happy right on her heels as she pushed through the door and stopped. "I'm looking for Jackson Teller."

"Who's looking for me?" Jax moved towards the sound of the voice before pausing as his eyes fell on the guest. "Sunny?"

 **To Be Continued…**

 **So, that's a good start to a story. I mean, I love a good first chapter and I think this was a pretty good one. I've read it a few times myself and I wanted to add to it but I didn't wanna saturate the first chapter too much. I want this to be a slow burn to an epic climax. So, let me know what you liked or didn't like, I promise I won't bitch about negativity this time around. I know it's just a part of this world and I'm going to get some from time to time. I've learned to deal with it. What I like, someone else may dislike and that's just life.**


	2. Bad Cop

**_continued..._**

"Live and in the flesh," Sunshine smirked at Jax, crossing her arms beneath her bust before shrugging her shoulders slightly. "I just want to talk. I'm here on business." She dropped her arms before fishing her credentials out of her bag. "Assistant District Attorney and blah blah blah."

"What are you doing here?" Jax looked at the brunette carefully, taking in her appearance from head to toe. She still looked the same as she did they day she fled the town but somehow she looked more mature, curvier and even more hardened towards him. "I don't know what you'd want with me."

"I talked to your wife…" She let the statement permeate the air for a few seconds before irking an eyebrow at the man. "She seems to think she's going to get set free and escape any consequences. I offered a deal and I want her to take it. Tell her to take it."

"What's the deal?" He nodded his head slowly. "And why are you even talking to Tara huh?"

"Well, my boss, she asked me to do all of the grunt work. I just had to see for myself first hand what Tara was up to once I got a list of names. Boy oh boy was I shocked to see that she's locked up on a murder charge." Sunshine chuckled. "Even more shocked to see that you have two kids by two different women. I can't wait to see what Wendy has to say for herself when I stop off to visit her."

"What is the deal?" Jax stepped closer to the brunette. "I can't tell her to take it if I don't know what it is."

"She knows what it is." She shrugged her shoulders as she stood to her full height and scanned the forming audience. "I just want to let you know that I'm in town and I've got eyes on you." She circled her finger through the air and smirked. "We'll be in touch _Mr. Teller_."

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"Fancy meeting you here," Sunshine smirked as she watched Happy slide into the booth. "I had to stop in before I left back for home. See if my usual is still just as amazing as I remember or if it's just a greasy mess and I just ate anything when I was seventeen." She tucked her hair behind her ears. "You want anything? She hasn't taken my order just yet."

"I'll take whatever you're having." Happy eyed the brunette carefully before shaking his head slowly. "You have the guys in a panic. Trying to figure out why you're watching us and what kicks you're getting from it."

She laughed and shrugged her shoulders. "Look, I'm just here doing my job. I'm handling what tasks were set out for me. I am honestly just getting a kick out of seeing what shit Jax, Tara and Wendy have gotten themselves into. You know, Wendy stayed with me for about two years before she decided to run back home to Charming. She was doing amazing, taking classes, working and most importantly she was _clean_. Then one day she had enough and here we are. She had a kid with my exboyfriend and now she's doing well again but damn, her history is bad."

"Not everyone can get out of Charming and stay out of here." He shrugged. "I'm glad that you stayed gone though. Happy that I didn't have to kick your bony ass out of here."

"Whatever." She waved him off before taking a sip of her water. "You know that I am going to be sorry for anything that happens as a result of this mess. I know you're not going to get the hell out of here but damn, you're still my friend. Even if I forced you to be my friend because I like that you listen and don't talk much."

"We haven't talked in almost two decades but you're still forcing me to be your friend!?" He feigned annoyance and rolled his eyes. "Nah, nah, nah little girl. It doesn't work that way. What if I don't wanna be friends with you, huh?"

She laughed and nodded her head eagerly. "What!? You're a goofball… I cannot believe this, not at all." She shook her head slowly as she acknowledged the waitress. "Double bacon cheeseburger, fries, and a vanilla shake. He'll have the same. Please, and thank you."

"I remember when you were one too. I once watched you do cartwheels around the whole clubhouse before you fell out and got sick and Opie had to carry you to your truck." He shrugged. "You've come a long way."

"Still that girl just not when I'm in my big girl suits. When I put these on, I'm Sunny Vellenueva, ADA, I'm not Sunny." She sighed as she smiled. "Then when I get into my jeans, then I'm Sunny and the fun can commence. I just want to be all business and what not but right now, I'm off and I wanna enjoy this food before I go and surprise my aunt. She's not off for another two hours but I wanna surprise her. She has no idea."

"Your aunt's been doing good. I see her all of the time, she always tells me what you're up to." Happy shrugged as he placed a toothpick between his lips. "You tell her we were friends or what?"

"Mother's intuition." She twisted her rings around her finger and smiled. "I haven't talked to my mom since I left for college. I just know she got married to the new guy and they had kids, four of them. So I have younger siblings. It's whatever, she didn't even come to my wedding or worse yet, she didn't go to any of my graduations."

"When's the divorce finalized" He steadied her fingers. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not a talker, I just see that you've got a lot on your mind."

"He doesn't want to sign the papers." Sunny shook her head slowly. "He's stalling and it's annoying and I hate it. Never marry another attorney. You'd think I wouldn't have gotten married but we were together for like five years and we were in love and it was right, it felt so right but now I'm trying to pinpoint the first sign of trouble and I can't seem to figure out where shit went wrong… That's the most annoying part."

"Has to be a reason that he doesn't wanna sign them. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to be intrusive and shit but since you pretty much told me your whole life story the first time we met…" He smirked at her as he watched the plates of food be set down on the table out of the corner of his eye. "What's the big deal?"

"Prenuptial agreement." She chuckled as she grabbed the ketchup and started to drizzle it over the fries. "Has a whole adultery clause in it. Neither of us is supposed to partake in adulterous activities and if we do, we are in a lot of trouble. Him, he's a trust fund kid, he comes from money, old and new. We didn't even make it a year before he cheated, we made it eleven months, three weeks and six days." She scoffed and shrugged. "He doesn't wanna pay up and he doesn't want to split anything and he's being a child and I want to just settle it and say that I won't take a damn thing but then my more stubborn part is saying to make him pay because that's the only way he's gonna hurt. Plus, school was expensive, I could use the money to pay off loans and keep my paycheck for buying a home."

"So it's true." Gemma tapped her nails on the table, effectively grabbing Sunshine's attention. "You're really back in Charming."

"On business." Sunshine nodded slowly. "And before you even start in on this, I'm off for the day. I'm getting food and I ran into Happy. Wanna sit and join us? I will share some of my fries with you and everything Gemma."

"No, no. Juice and I are here, picking up our order for the guys." She gestured to Juice. "Copping out on dinner tonight."

"Juice." She looked at the man with the mohawk and smiled. "Weird name and cool haircut and tattoos. I'm Sunshine but most people call me Sunny."

"Sunshine, what a weird name." Juice shook his head and smirked. "Mohawk was a sober choice, tattoos were a drunken one."

"Oh, here I was thinking it was the other way around." Sunny shrugged. "Silly me, nonetheless it's a pleasure meeting you. Who would've thought there was another attractive Son. I was thinking Happy was all the club had to offer but here you are."

Juice chuckled and nodded eagerly. "Everyone always thinks Jax is the good looking one. Never me. This is cool."

"Juice, go grab the food and meet me at the car." Gemma shook her head slowly, watching him walk away before turning her gaze onto the brunette. "You've probably made his year by saying that but keep your distance. Don't need you messing with Juice."

"Oh, I had no intentions of messing with him." Sunny shook her head slowly, as she looked slightly up at the older woman. "You sent him away before I could launch into my history with Jax. Who is looking a bit beat for his age? I guess it's not easy being King after all is it?"

"I've got my eye on you." Gemma nodded. "Enjoy that food."

 **SOA**

"Vellenueva." Sunshine held up her badge, eagerly awaiting to be admitted into the attorney room. It was another day and another chance to ruffle Tara's feathers. Get her to save innocent children and to stop being foolish. "Here for Knowles, I know her attorney is already in the room with her. I just know it."

"Let her through." Tyne Patterson ushered the brunette past the guards and shook her head. "Sometimes you cannot be polite with these people."

"I'm learning that now." She nodded slowly as she tried her best to stay at pace with the shorter woman. "You walk really fast for someone so short."

"Not all of us can have long legs and look like a model." Tyne chuckled as she opened the chamber door. "Go on, I want to see you in action. I want to see what all the rave is about with you."

"No pressure whatsoever." Sunny rubbed her palms on her jeans and shrugged. "I thought I'd keep it casual, seem less intimidating. Gotta keep something for the courtroom. I did some digging last night and I've uncovered a whole lot." She moved into the room and dropped the thick folder onto the metal table and smiled. "Boy oh boy, have we got a lot to talk about today Mrs. Teller."

"First of all, I want to know why both the DA and ADA are in here working this case?" Lowen looked at the brunette. "Also, is anyone going to take into account that they have a history together?"

"Decades ago and I wouldn't call it history, we barely interacted with one another." Sunny opened the folder, slowly beginning to lay out picture after picture before she ran out. "I did some digging last night. I wanted to prove that you volunteered at the prison solely because you thought you were being a good old lady, going to help your husband get his club clear of a RICO case that was pending at the time. One that magically vanished once Otto did _this_." She tapped on the pictures. "Jamming a crucifix into a nurse's neck. Now, we both know that you aren't a dumb woman Tara. Commonsense would have you know that bringing in an unauthorized item to an inmate is illegal, not only is it illegal but it endangers you, the inmate and anyone around said inmate. Now, I wanted so very badly to give you the benefit of the doubt. I wanted to come in here and say, well she didn't know any better but then something struck me as surprising." She set down a slip of paper. "You willingly and openly neglected to mention to the prison that you were married, that you were married to a felon who happens to be the president of the club that Otto Delaney is or was a member of…"

"Hold on, this is not an interrogation and you're not prosecuting my client right now." Lowen shook her head. "Like I said before she didn't know what she was doing was wrong."

"Oh, she knew." Sunny nodded her head slowly. "You can see the guilt written all over her face. She knew what she was doing and she knew it was wrong but she continued to do it anyways because she wanted to help her husband and his club. She didn't think she'd get caught up, she didn't think she'd ever end up in this position but when you play with fire you get burned."

"If you continue with this, this meeting can be over." The older woman nodded. "Back it down."

"All I'm saying is that an innocent woman lost her life." She shrugged as she took a seat. "I don't think it's fair that her murder will go without any justice. She went into work, she never thought she would be hurt and I think that's so damn sad." She tapped on the pictures. "Take that in, all of the blood. I bet you can still smell it and I bet you replay that day over and over and over when you're in that hard ass bunk, trying to fall asleep at night. I'm here to bring forth justice and I think she should take my deal. Relocation of the children, under witsec and they'll never know that their mom was an accomplice to murder and that their father is a monster."

"You're going to let her go off on a tangent?" Lowen looked at Tyne Patterson. "This isn't the trial and this isn't the courtroom."

"I think she's doing what she does best." Tyne nodded slowly. "She didn't rise up the ranks this fast because she is bad at her job. She rose up the ranks because she's the best at what she does. I think she's barking up the right tree. We're getting out of here but you know my deal as well Mrs. Teller. It's not as harsh as Miss Vellenueva's but nonetheless, it'll protect your boys."

"I'm not a snitch, I'm not a rat. I'm not turning on my husband, the father of my children." Tara looked at the women. "I'll take my chances."

"Oh, too bad." Sunshine started piling up all of the pictures. "Should've taken the deal. I don't plan on extending another offer. Hopefully, Patterson will entertain you in the future when you're panicked and don't know what else to do as your life crashes down around you. I'll be seeing you in court."

"The good cop, bad cop routine is working," Patterson whispered as they walked out of the room. "You did good in there, I was worried that you wouldn't be able to separate yourself from the past you had with her."

"I'm a professional." She smiled. "I'm good with separating personal and business. Plus, all of that was decades ago and doesn't even matter now. I am however going to still declare it, that we went to highschool together to the judge, I know Lowen will try to play that card and get me removed but I want this case. This is a career making case, just as the Sons of Anarchy is a career making case for you."

"Keep it that way, let the facts of the case lead you." Tyne smiled at they got into the SUV. "Miss Vellenueva, this is going to make both of our careers. Eyes on the prize. We want justice and evil removed from this state. We're so close, so we must stay focused."

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 **OMG! thank you for the amazing feedback on the first chapter. The first chapter is always the hardest for me but I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far. I hope I didn't disappoint with this chapter because I really liked it when I read it over.**


	3. Friends

"So, you set out to bring down the Sons but you ended up ruining this kid's life?" Sunshine finished flipping through the file before her eyes fell onto the man sitting across from her. "I don't know why you did what you did and yes, I'm fully aware that this kid is actually a grown ass man but you don't understand something. He's got a childlike demeanor, he thrives off of praise and cheer. I figured that out from being around him for five whole minutes."

"Juan Carlos Ortiz is a bad man." Eli Roosevelt sat up straighter, his chocolate eyes on the brunette as she began to flip through another file. "He's just as bad as the rest of the club, he's done just as much bad shit as any of the colder _men_."

"I don't care." She shrugged her shoulders. "Bad or not, he's still a kid. He's still seeking praise and he's trying not to let anyone down but yet you ran him into the ground for your own entertainment. For your own poisonous motives. I wouldn't have gone after him, nope. I would have put enough pressure on the women and watched the men squirm until they made the mistake. _Juan Carlos Ortiz_. Juice, he tried to kill himself you say?"

He cleared his throat and nodded. "It was a RICO case, we went with the weakest of the members, the ones that would talk. He talked and he worked with us, it just got to be too much for him and he tried to hang himself."

"Why aren't you protecting him now?" She glanced up at him. "Protective custody? Did you offer him WITSEC in return for him giving some information on the club?"

"He doesn't want to be protected." He shook his head, tapping on the folder. "I try to keep an eye on him but sometimes it's just not possible."

"Goodness." Sunshine closed the folder and set it down. "I need to know something. Are you like the head sheriff? Or is there someone above you?"

"I am the head sheriff." He nodded slowly. "Aren't you a bit too young to be a DA?"

"Yeah." She laughed. "That's why I'm just the assistant district attorney. Duh. I'm rising up the ranks, case by case. Day by day, pissing off the chauvinistic men one a a time. Should've seen the fit my colleague pitched when I landed this job. It was truly amazing to see a grown ass man throw a temper tantrum in our firm. I to this day wish I would've gotten it on video. So, what's your plan with bringing the Sons down and ridding your town of them once and for all?"

"That's where you come in, I think you have the skills to help us out. I've asked around and you do have a solid reputation with bringing down gangs and syndicates. Didn't you recently put a mob boss in prison for life?" He shrugged. "I want to know what you have planned…"

Sunny, studied the man carefully before shrugging her shoulders slightly. "I plan to do what I do best, pick apart the case, find the weaknesses of each person involved." She smirked. "Bring down Tara and Jackson falls. Or he'll simply try to outsmart us, offer some weird deal in exchange for Tara being safe but we cannot make a deal with an outlaw, no matter how good it sounds. He'll screw us all over, believe me, I can tell from a mile away. He's good with words and he'll make you think you're getting the best deal in the world, then when it's all said and done, he's free, she's free and nothing you set out to accomplish happened."

"Firsthand experience?" He chuckled. "Do tell me more."

"I grew up with Jackson for a bit, dated him for a bit. I don't know, I can't personally say how he is now but I'm making assumptions based on who he used to be and a tiger cannot change his stripes. Once a smooth talker, always a smooth talker. I just got so much better at detecting bullshit a mile away." She smiled. "I'm going to offer Juice witsec, you're going to be the middleman though."

"That's going to make it seem like Juice is working with me and cutting a deal." Eli shook his head slowly. "I'm not doing it, I'm not putting him into the line of fire."

"He's already there!" She tapped her nails on the desk. "He's always going to be in the line of fire after what _you_ did. You blew his life up. He was trying to save his club and in the process he got a huge target on his back. You think everything is good for him right now? No matter what he does, they'll never trust him again, he'll always be at their mercy and at their beck and call. They'll decide one day that he's not worth it and Juice will be dead."

"So, I have to reach out and offer him a deal?" He shook his head again. "I can't do that, it's playing with fire. Juice won't take the deal anyway."

She groaned as she rested her elbows on the man's desk and looked at him intently. "So, you're saying he's so far gone that he won't cut a deal to save his life? It's not really a deal though, it's us offering to protect him from his club because from what you told me, he's a dead man walking already. How do you sleep with that guilt on your shoulders? Help me understand this because I'm obviously lost. You made a mess, you haven't cleaned it up… That's having loose ends and I'm not a fan of those at all."

"He doesn't want help from me. I tried to put my guys on him when it first all went south but it doesn't stick." Eli shrugged. "If he doesn't want the protection, I can't force it on him at all."

"So, he's blindly and stupidly loyal to a club that think he's disposable?" She laughed. "Men are so dumb sometimes I swear. I almost, just almost feel bad for Juice but hey, if he's walking happily to his own death, then so be it. Who am I to intervene on his suicide mission? Oh wait, I'm ADA Vellenueva, I can intervene if I please to. We all took the vow to serve and to protect. We would be violating that vow if we didn't do all that we could."

"I look at it like this, do I want to save the life of one or do I want to save the lives of many?" He flashed her a brief smile. "He's a lost soul, even if you save him, put him in protection, he'll find his way back to the club. That's his _family_. Leave it be. All I can do is watch from a distance and hope he knows when to get out. Do not get me wrong, I want to save the kid but at the same time, I had to separate my feelings. When emotions get involved we are opened up to mistakes and we can't afford to make mistakes in this line of work."

"No emotions." She nodded slowly. "That's my thing. I can remove the emotion from cases and think logically. Most people think a woman shouldn't be a lawyer because we get too emotional and that's not for the courtroom." She stood up and shrugged. "I'll be in touch. Until then, keep an eye on Juice while I go track down some ex cop named Wayne Unser."

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"This is sad." Sunshine sighed, looking at the headstones before shaking her head slowly. "Donna and Opie, both gone. The best people in Charming besides my aunt, they're gone and I didn't even get that final goodbye."

"It was brutal. They didn't deserve it, I'm here though. We used to be friends, best friends, we lived together and learned together." Wendy looked at the brunette. "I guess I have some explaining to do huh?"

"I really don't care." She shook her head again, turning her attention onto the blonde that stood beside her. "I don't care what you did or who you did it with. You're right, we used to be friends but somewhere along the line you up and left in the middle of the night, without so much as a letter or a goodbye. I was worried, I thought something happened to you until my aunt called me and told me she saw you running around Charming."

"I'm sorry that I left without telling you anything." She sighed. "I was going stir crazy, the same thing over and over again. I was losing my mind."

"You went from a clean life and a good path to a life of a junkie, a deadbeat baby daddy and not being able to see your child…" Sunshine shrugged. "Man, that must really be the life to live huh? Maybe I'm missing out on it… Where's the pull of it?"

Wendy shrugged. "I don't know, I was in a bad place and Jax was there and it was convenient at first and then we ended up married and I was so in love with him, nothing else mattered because he told me he loved me too. Then there was a divorce, then it wasn't a divorce and I got pregnant but it still didn't work out so then the divorce was finalized. I lost my son because I was so fucked up and just wanted to chase that high."

"But at least you're getting your shit together now. Maybe, just maybe you'll get to be a part of the kid's life." She sighed as she placed the flowers on Donna's grave. "I wish I got to see her one more time. I loved her, she was the first girl to be nice to me, even if she was best friends with the girl trying to steal my boyfriend. She had loyalty and I loved that so much."

"Did you stay in touch with her at all?" The blonde looked at the headstones before turning at the sound of a lone motorcycle. "I think that's Jackson."

Sunny nodded, turning her body towards the sound of the bike. "I talked to her on occasion, the last time I talked to her, Opie had gotten out of jail." She furrowed her brow. "That's my cue to get out of her. I'll see you around. Later."

* * *

"Are you stalking me right now?" Sunshine rolled her eyes as she strolled up the path to her front door, unlocking it and stepping aside. "Come on in Happy. I'll get you a beer or a coffee?"

"I'm not stalking you." Happy shook his head as he walked into the house. "Your address isn't really private. You should really change that. If I can find you, then anyone can find you."

"Well, I'll look into that. Wouldn't wanna die in my sleep." She closed the front door, turning slightly to turn the alarm on before toeing off her black sneakers. "I'm gross, I went for my morning run before I head into the office to push pencils and fill out paperwork. Most of this job is paperwork."

"You haven't been in Charming for a few days, I wanted to check on you." He followed after her and shrugged. "Make sure you were still alive and not dead in a ditch."

She grabbed a beer from the fridge and set it on the island before taking a seat. "Look at you, showing concern for me. So your monster of a president is into murdering women then huh?"

"Didn't say that." He shook his head slowly before taking a pull of his beer. "I'm sure you've pissed people off with cases and shit."

"Just admit that you like me," She smirked at him. "Come on, admit it. You like me and you'd be so sad if something happened to me."

"Maybe." He shrugged his shoulders. "This is why I can't tell you shit because you wanna turn into a girl."

"I am a _girl_." She laughed. "I get what you're saying though. It's alright, I like me too and I like being alive. I love being able to do what I love each day. I however need to kind of sadly distance myself from Charming and maybe even you for a while. I want nothing to jeopardize my current cases. I have two big ones and the first one can help me with the second one."

"So, let me get this right, I'm hearing you say that I'm a huge distraction for you." He smirked at her before finishing off the beer. "Good to know, I'm gonna go write about this in my _diary_." He laughed as he stood up. "Don't even worry about it, _pretty girl_. I can keep my distance so you can keep your job and win your cases. Just don't get in trouble or piss anyone off further."

"I cannot with you." She laughed and shook her head. "Let yourself out. I need to go and shower. I can't go into the office smelling like crap." She moved towards the stairs. "Or stay, I don't care, just don't mess anything up. I like keeping everything neat and organized."

"I think I'll help myself to another beer and stick around." Happy shrugged. "After all, we're friends and nothing says friendship like a friend overstaying their welcome."

"Or you're trying to get a peek at my naked body!" She gasped and shrugged. "Don't be a creeper Happy. I mean, if you want a peek, all you gotta do is ask. That's what friends are for, right? Hmm. Whatever, I'm jumping in the shower, see you in a few."

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"The fact that you're still here, either means you like this house or you like me." Sunshine kicked off her sneakers and dropped a box onto the coffee table. "This is my work, I have to go through all of this to make sure I'm not missing anything for my cases. I cannot afford to mess up, I have a reputation to uphold and a gaggle of men that are waiting for me to fail so they can say a man will do my job better."

"What is it that you actually do?" Happy looked at the brunette. "I fell asleep on the sofa, it's pretty fuckin' comfortable. More comfortable than the poor excuse for a bed at the clubhouse."

"I collect facts and a prosecute based on those facts and intuition." She shook her head slowly as she sat down and opened the box. "You're more than welcome to sleep in the guestroom and not on the sofa. Why are you even staying at the clubhouse? Don't you have a home away from that place?"

"I ain't paying rent on a house I'm never gonna use." He shrugged. "Show me some facts, don't have to be this case."

"Okay, look at these pictures," She laid out a series of pictures and nodded. "This is the nurse that Otto killed, all of that blood, hers. She just went into work that day, thinking nothing out of the ordinary was going to happen. She didn't get to go home to her family or friends, she lost her life because of the carelessness of another woman. It's my job to prove that Tara knew what she was doing when she brought in that crucifix, she knew that it was illegal because she signed paperwork. She also has a strike against her because she neglected to mark down that she was married to a felon, one that happens to be affiliated with the man that killed the nurse. You see where the facts start becoming concrete and you fill in the gaps and missing pieces with common sense. Striving to be a good old lady to her husband, Tara broke character, causing herself a whole lot of trouble in the process. Yes, she got rico out but sadly, she's on the hook for murder."

"How do you just look at it and piece it together like that?" He looked at Sunny. "Tara's smart but I never pegged her as having much sense when it came to Jax."

"Intelligence. The woman is intelligent and don't let the confused looks on her face fuck you up. Let's say you were in jail, I brought you in illegal contraband, say an innocent gift of a nice, new razor because I want you to stay clean shaven." She tapped her nails on the table. "You then turn it into a weapon and I'm now on the hook because there's video of me giving it to you. Would anyone really think I was dumb enough to not know better? Just based on meeting me briefly. I saw Tara, felt her out and I'm calling bullshit on her not knowing she couldn't bring an inmate a gift."

"Never underestimate a pretty face." He nodded slowly. "Go on, tell me more. Shit, maybe if I'm ever in court again, I can use this knowledge to get myself off. _No, your honor, I just look smart but I ain't._ "

Sunny started laughing and covered her face. "I'm not even gonna make a comment on that but yeah, if you have the time, then I'll drop some knowledge on that big ass head of yours."

"I got nothin' but time." Happy smiled at the brunette. "Let's see what college taught you that I don't already know from crime shows."


	4. Love & Motives

"Tara is out on bail." Sunshine groaned, pulling her hair back into a ponytail as she kept in pace with her friend. "She's out on bail and it's driving me insane because I've built up such a solid case against her. There was a security camera, capturing every single appointment and every single thing she did and someone stupidly missed that but I found it and I've submitted it for the case." She shook her head as she stopped at her front door. "I have a houseguest, he turned up two days ago and he's still here."

"Don't tell me that you let your ex back in." Gia scoffed as she walked into the large home. "Since when does he grill? I smell steak."

"Oh no." She shook her head. "I'd never let that fucker back in my home or in my life. It's a friend that I knew back in high school. He's kinda creepy but he's also a nice guy once you get past the death stare and the beady black eyes and all of the tattoos. The man has so many tattoos, it's _insane_."

"I grilled steaks." Happy walked out of the kitchen, wearing Sunshine's _kiss the cook_ apron and smiled. "I found them in the fridge."

"Gia, that's Happy and Happy this is my friend Gia. I've known her for years now." She shrugged. "He's like a creepy class clown but it grows on you like I said."

"Hey." Happy nodded. "You two have to share a steak because there was only two and I ain't sharing mine."

"You didn't tell me he was handsome as fuck." Gia murmured to Sunny. "I would've gotten dressed."

Sunny rolled her eyes. "We'll take the steak to go because I need to work on some files for later today. I have to mount a prosecution that will put a few nails in a coffin. Or either cut some insanely brilliant deal with a monster."

"I may skip that and just hang out with tall, dark and handsome here." Gia moved towards Happy. "So, do you have a girlfriend? Wife? Any serious relationship?"

"It's been six months since she's had some dick, excuse her crazy." She grabbed Gia and popped her hand. "Don't even think about it because if it doesn't work, then things will be awkward for me."

"He's older than you…" Gia walked into Sunny's office. "How did you meet him?"

"Through my ex, they hang out in the same crowd." She dropped to her chair. "He's like seven years older or so. I used to have a crush on him but he never really gave me the time of day and he hated it so much when I'd turn up."

"Oh, so he didn't want you around because he liked your underage ass." Gia laughed and shook her head slowly. "That makes sense, I wouldn't want temptation around either."

"Let's focus on this for a second, please?" Sunny settled into her chair. "I can't lose this case. I _have_ to win."

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"There is nothing I love more than trying to figure out someone's motive." Sunshine spoke softly as she fell into step with Happy. "You've been at my house a few days now and I have no idea what to make of it. You're gone when I'm asleep and when I get back from work, you're asleep. What's up with it?"

"Don't put too much thought into it." Happy shrugged. "You offered me the guest room, so it's your fault. I'm just wearing out my welcome."

"It's more than that." She stopped walking, grabbing his elbow and forcing him to face her. "What's your angle?" She eyed him carefully, taking in the man's body movement and eye contact. "You're not going to wear out your welcome. I was married to a man for a few years that was a piece of shit, when we decided to divorce, he still stuck around until I had to file a PO on him. I just needed to know you weren't around because of club business. I needed to know you were around because you want to be friends and be around me."

"I don't do Jax's bitch work." He shook his head. "He can send one of the other guys to snoop. That's his shit to deal with. Ain't my wife in hot water for some stupid shit. If a pretty girl offers me a free place to stay? I ain't turnin' it down."

She smiled briefly before tucking her hair behind her ears. "I have to do business now. Won't it look bad if we walk in together?"

"Nah," He shrugged as he opened the clubhouse door. "None of these guys are gonna say shit to me. I'm the scary one."

"Alright." She nodded slowly as she stepped into the dimly lit clubhouse. "Here we are. I'm looking for Tara Knowles."

"How did you even find me?" Tara looked at Sunshine before letting Gemma take Thomas. "We can talk outside."

"Fine by me." She shrugged. "I have eyes in the sheriff's department. I know where you are. I just want to know if you given any more thought into that deal that I offered you." She followed Tara back out of the clubhouse. "Nice life for your boys while you do your time."

"I'm not taking the deal, I'll take my chances in court." Tara crossed her arms over her chest. "You're wasting your time and I'm pretty sure that this is harassment."

Sunshine clicked her tongue and shook her head slowly. "I don't believe it's harassment at all." She opened up a folder and set it onto the picnic table. "Hmm, one small detail that your legal team neglected to find. An outdated but still somewhat functioning security camera. Picking up on the appointments you had with Otto Delaney. See, I didn't raise up the ranks this quick because I'm dumb and skip over tiny details. I've presented this to the judge and I assume your lawyer will be reaching out very soon about it. I suggest you consider taking a deal. Mine or Patterson's your choice but if it goes to court and I get a chance to present a case, boy oh boy am I going to present one hell of a case. _Small Town Doctor, Conspires to commit murder with Outlaw Motorcycle Club, Sons of Anarchy._ It's a working title but damn, would that be a career maker. Taking you and an outlaw club out in one fell swoop. I like that look on your face right now. It's priceless."

"You really want to take a mother away from her children?" Tara looked carefully at the brunette. "Let me guess, you don't have children of your own? You're not married either because your finger is bare."

"Sadly, I do not have any rugrats of my own running around." She shook her head. "Also, working on a divorce. Husband cheated, had to cut him loose. Shame, shame when a good man cheats. You can't let that shit slide though or he'll think it's acceptable behavior."

"I'm still not going to rat on my husband." The shorter brunette shook her head as she turned her attention towards the clubhouse entrance, where her husband stood. "I would never do that."

"See, I'm not asking you to snitch on him." Sunshine shrugged. "I'm letting you have an opportunity to save your boys. Get them out of this town and far away from this outlaw country. I would think as a mother you would want the best for your boys and if you do end up in prison, would you want to leave your little ones to be raised by Gemma? Picture that, two more Jacksons in this world. Do you want that?" She closed the folder. "I'll be seeing you again, just let all of that seep in. What life do you want your boys to have? Surely it isn't this one."

"I am not going to prison." Tara shook her head again. "Lowen or Jax won't let me go to prison and be away from my boys. I'm going to raise them."

"I'll leave you with this," She sighed. "Sometimes you cannot and should not love to the point of self sacrifice. You have to save yourself sometimes. Remember that Mrs. Teller."

"Ignore her Tara." Gemma stopped at the pair and shook her head, looking at Sunshine with annoyance. "She's just trying to ruffle some feathers, get revenge on some old high school bullshit. She's got nothing and she probably doesn't even have the power to offer some type of deal."

Sunny scoffed, turning her body to fully face Gemma. "It's not about some revenge for high school bullshit. Looking at this mess she's in, it makes me even more grateful that Jackson and I didn't work. This life is fucked up and she's just weeks away from a trial that could put her away for life. Oh God, I dodged a bullet there. I really did, Gemma. Also lucked out and didn't end up with you as a mother-in-law. You were so right when you said I wasn't made for this lifestyle. I'm on the other side of it."

"I think you should go." Jackson approached the women. "Come on, Tara, Gemma, back inside. Let the little attorney go about her business."

"I'll be seeing you too, really soon Mr. Teller." She grabbed her folders. "Remember what I said Tara…"

"What did she say to you?" Jax looked at his wife. "If she's bothering you, just let me know. I'll deal with it."

"How?" Tara looked at him. "How will you deal with it? She wants me in prison. I don't want to go to prison. I don't want to be separated from my boys. I love my boys so much Jax. I need to be here for them always."

"I'll handle it." He nodded slowly. "It shouldn't be hard to get her thrown off this case. I'll have Juice look into it. He's good with finding out laws and shit."

* * *

"It's my job to prosecute to the full extent of the law and if-." Sunshine stopped talking, a hand waving in her face let her know that she shouldn't continue her thought. She relaxed into her seat, crossing her legs as she looked at Tyne Patterson and nodded.

"Well, I got word from the Teller's lawyer, Lowen that they want to file for harassment against you. I know that you're doing your job, you do it well enough to have these people scrambling but you should lay off." Tyne smiled. "Take a few days and work on a new angle. I'll let you play with the big boys and see if you can't make way on this Sons of Anarchy gun case."

"I feel like a sibling just snitched on me to my mom." She groaned as she covered her face. "There's nothing new in the gun case. The mom and the boyfriend are apparently missing and we know the Sons aren't going to speak up. All we can do now is watch for Irish movement because they probably supply the KG-9s." She dropped her hands from her face. "I do have a favor to phone in…"

Tyne smiled and nodded. "Work your magic, hunt down leads. I'm a phone call away if you need me. I'm going to be speaking to Mrs. Teller. See if I can't break down those walls she has up."

"You do that, I have an outlaw to see." Sunshine stood up, straightening out her dress. "You have fun, that woman is a bit dense when it comes to her marriage and love life. I think she's willing to lay her life on the line if it means protecting Jackson and I just don't understand it but then again, I've never been _that_ in love."

"Stay out of trouble." The older woman nodded. "I don't want to have to bench you Sunshine."

"I'm going to stay out of trouble." She nodded eagerly and smiled. "I promise."

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"Remember when I helped you out of trouble and you promised me a _huge_ favor? This is me, cashing in that favor and you cannot say no to me." Sunshine looked at the man and smiled. "You owe me this one and just think about it. What would Esai say right now if he were still here?"

"Look, I know I owe you that favor, so go ahead, what do you need me to do?" Marcus smiled at the brunette. "That ex of yours causing you problems?"

"Nope." She shook her head. "I need to know about the Sons Irish gun connect and I know you know about it because I'm smart as hell and I know that you can help me. Just think about it for a second before you say no and shoo me away!"

He shook his head slowly. "Don't know what you're talking about. I know nothing."

"Ha." She scoffed as she opened up a folder and started pulling pictures out of it. "I'm always ahead of the game. You should know that already Marcus. Come on, it's a favor for your favorite Sunshine."

"See, I knew letting you help me out of that shit would come around to bite me in the ass." He shook his head again as he grabbed her pen and scribbled a name on the back of one of the pictures. "There, that's your favor. Keep your distance for a bit. I don't need anymore trouble coming my way."

"It didn't bite you in the ass, I'm not going to let you get in trouble Marcus." She smiled at him. "I just needed this key piece of information and you were the only one I knew who would tell me the honest to God truth. You're big on loyalty, honesty and respect when it comes to friendships. If you ever need my help again, I'm simply a phone call away and you can phone in a get out of jail free card, no return payment will be necessary."

"What are you going to do now?" He looked at the brunette. "Go fight crime?"

Sunshine chuckled and nodded slowly. "Something like that, something exactly like that."

* * *

 **I want to apologize in the delay of an update. I had a bit of a struggle with** **incorporating some moment with Sunny & Tara, that weren't Sunny hounding her too badly. The next chapter is ready to edit, so I hope to have chapter 5 up this weekend. Also, big thanks for the support of this story, I know it's a slow build so far but it's going to be worth it when everything starts falling into place, especially where Sunny & Tara are concerned. **


	5. Grudges

"We can talk and walk, just be normal. Nothing out of the ordinary is happening right now." Sunshine smiled as she glanced at Juice. "Two people just walking down main street, having a casual conversation and a cup of coffee." She placed a cup in his hand and nodded. "I want to help you get out of the mess Eli put you in. Nope, I'm not asking you for a favor, I am simply wanting to get you safe and into a better position."

"I don't need your help, the last time I worked with the law, it fucked me over." Juice shook his head as he dropped the cup into the first trash can they came upon. "I don't want a favor or any handouts. I want you to keep your distance."

She stopped walking, glancing around before shrugging her shoulders. "I want you to make it out of this mess alive, don't ask me why either. We barely know each other but I just want to help you survive this shit you were placed in…"

He looked back at her and shook his head again. "I don't want anything from you, I don't want to owe anyone anything. You're out to bring down my club, bring down my family, why should I trust _you_?"

"Ha," She covered her mouth at the realization of the inappropriate tone she had. "I'm not after your precious little club. I'm after Tara, everyone else is after your club and guess what? Happy, he trusts me enough to be my friend and be seen out in public with me. Affiliating with me, it won't tarnish your reputation, not unless you already have a sketchy one."

"I don't want a damn thing from you, alright?" He looked around before pulling his hood up. "Keep your distance, I don't want any trouble."

She nodded slowly. "Okay, sorry to have bugged you… It won't happen again." She watched him walk off before turning around and starting to walk back towards her car. "That man is scared."

"He has every right to be scared." Jackson walked out of the shadows. "I really don't appreciate you still hanging around Charming, getting you in trouble for harassment wasn't enough to get you to stop?"

"The fight for justice never stops." She shook her head as she looked at the man and smiled. "You should know that. I'm sure you're not as dumb as you look. You've always been a smart man, so I'm just waiting for you to offer up some deal that will save your wife, yourself and your club and screw over the law. I have one thing on DA Patterson, I grew up with you, I know you and I know you're smarter than every single person gives you credit for. You're going to fuck her over but I'll be right there to pick up the pieces and put you in jail. That's my sole mission. Tara is low on my priority list but she's still on that list nonetheless."

"You have no idea what you're messing with." he shook his head slowly. "You've been out of Charming for over a decade. You don't know how things work around here, the police don't run this town, the MC runs this town."

"It's the same as it's always been then." She looked at him. "I'm not afraid of you Jackson, I'll never be afraid of you. I hope you know that. I'm always going to do my job, may I say I do a damn good job at it too. I've never lost a single case, not even when I was assisting back in college. I'm 100-0."

"You're going to lose this one, Tara is innocent." He nodded. "She didn't know anything that she was doing was wrong."

She rolled her eyes. "I have hours of video footage of them together…" She shrugged her shoulders. "We're not going to stand here and do some back and forth bullshit because it's pointless for us to do so. I have a case to work on. Let's see, congratulations, I'm now working on this KG-9 case. So, excuse me, I have some Irishmen to track down."

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"Finally, off work and ready to have a beer and relax." Sunshine kicked off her shoes before dropping onto the sofa. "Are you really watching cartoons right now?"

"Yeah." Happy nodded slowly. "It's a good cartoon, not like these new cartoons, this is old school, quality content."

"How was your day? Do anything fun?" She looked over at him. "Might as well have conversations since we are pretty much roommates."

"It was alright, ain't anything fun happen." He shook his head. "I did have fun riding my Dyna though. Gave her a new paint job too." He flashed her a brief smile. "How was _your_ day?"

"It was good, I ruffled some feathers, annoyed some people. So, I basically did my job." She smiled and shrugged. "I was thinking about something though, can I run this theory by you or do you want me to check my work at the door?"

"Your place." He shrugged. "Go on, start your blabbing."

She chuckled and nodded slowly, pulling her long legs onto the sofa before settling back. "This is my first huge case, well, cases. I have this theory that I'm being set up to fail because I know how this is going to play out. We'll be left holding the bag and nothing will have come of the hard work we put into this shit. I've known Jax, still know Jax and I know if he even gets backed into a corner, he'll try to make a deal to save his family, his club and himself. I know that deal won't do shit for us at all. So, I'm contemplating quitting while I'm ahead. I do not want to take a loss and I do not want to be played by some outlaw with nothing going for him but charm."

"I mean, didn't they put you on the case because of your credentials? Maybe you're the one to win it." He shrugged again. "You know the target the best and maybe they think you can see through the shit."

"Yeah but it's so annoying!" She grumbled, dropping her face to the pillow and shaking her head frantically. "It's so much work. Sifting through all of the shit that's ever been dug up. There's so many rico cases and there's so much corruptions. It just blows my mind that you all aren't dead already. Cartel, dead Russians, pissed off Irish men, really pissed off fed… It's just so much shit."

"Anything worth having ain't easy, pretty girl." he smiled at her. "Also, stop telling me shit. I could've done with just knowing it was a lot of work and nothing after that. The less you tell me, the less I know and the less shit I'll get from the guys, even tho none of them mess with me. I think they might be terrified of me or something."

"Oh yeah? Is that what you think?" She chuckled. "You're terrifying, I was afraid of you the first time we crossed paths then I got over it and wanted to be your friend."

"Because you're thick." He shook his head. "I told you to get out and stay out, look at you now, all in it." He rolled his eyes. "I would tell you to run for the hills but that'd be a waste and I know you want to see this through just be careful. You are going to piss off a lot of people and I'd hate to see you die at your prime."

"Lord, that was so romantic." Sunshine laughed as she turned her head at the sound of the doorbell. "You expecting anyone?"

"Why would I invite anyone over to your house?" he shook his head slowly as he stood up and moved to the door, peeking out the peephole. "It's some dude, you want me to open it?"

"Depends, does he look like he's here to kill me or no?" She stood up and moved towards the entryway and pulling the door open. "Oh, it's my hopefully soon to be ex-husband. Hopefully he's here to drop off some signed divorce papers. Happy this is Joseph, Joseph this is Happy. I know him from when I was in high school, he's here to keep me company and visit. What brings you here?"

"That's good." Joseph walked into the house and shut the door behind him. "Are you really working on the Sons of Anarchy gun case? I need to get on that too. I've been itching for something huge and this could be good for me. You know I'm running for Mayor and having a win like that? That would seal the deal for me."

"Oh my, I'm good, thank you for asking." She shook her head slowly. "He's a lawyer too, not as good as me but still good he's also a cop, so he's all about justice too…"

Happy shook his head as he looked at the pair. "I'm gonna go outside for a smoke. You two have fun with this."

"Look, you scared my friend away. He doesn't trust cops. Sunshine groaned as she dropped onto the sofa. "Look, I'll make a deal with you. You sign the divorce papers and I'll bring you onto my team. You don't sign the papers and I'll kick you in the balls again and start a opposition campaign so I can be mayor."

"Deal." He pulled out an envelope and passed it to the brunette. "I figured that you'd want it."

"Oh, so you kept it for leverage to get what you wanted?" she shook her head slowly. "I want you to know that I snuck a few extra terms into the divorce. So, thank you for the house, the cars, the settlement and all of the jewelry, even the heirlooms."

"Wait, what?" He reached for the envelope. "I didn't read those terms, I just signed."

"Well, fuck you huh?" She smirked. "You fucked me over and I just happily returned the favor. Thank you for paying off all of the pesky student loans, the mortgage and all of the cars. Man, I didn't know you paid so much for that engagement ring and the wedding set. Look at it like this, you got what you wanted and I got what I wanted. So, we're good to go now. Be at the office on Monday morning. I'm taking the weekend to myself."

 **SOA**

"Jax, how are we going to stop this?" Tara looked at her husband and shook her head slowly. "I don't want to end up in jail and I think Sunny is dead set on having that happen. I cannot be apart from my boys, it'll kill me and I don't want Gemma raising them."

"She's not going to do anything, I have a plan and it'll get her far away from this and from us. I'm not going to let anything happen to you or let you be away from the boys." Jax shook his head. "Tara, we're going to get through this, I'm going to make sure of it. I really am going to make sure of that. Look at me, Tara, I promise you didn't come back to Charming just to end up having your life ripped away by some girl still holding onto a grudge. That's all this is, she isn't going to get far. Lowen is working on it as well."

"You really think she's holding onto a grudge from that many years ago? She's clearly moved on. I had Juice dig up some information on her, she was married, it's ended in divorce, he hasn't signed the papers, so it's not finalized. She's won a lot of cases and she's even managed to work as a Marshal for a year before returning back to law. She's one of the youngest attorneys the state has had that's been this high of a rank, not to mention that she's a woman. You think she'd risk all of that just for some grudge because of what we did in high school?"

"I think women are sometimes crazy and risk a lot just to get back at an ex." He shrugged as he grabbed the file. "I don't know then, we can look at it from all angles but we need to figure out how to get her off our case and especially of of yours Tara. I can't lose you, especially not because of you helping me and the club out."

The brunette nodded her head slowly as she allowed herself to be pulled into a hug. "I'm just worried, I don't want to lose my life and lose out on seeing the boys grow up."

"You won't." He rubbed her back slowly. "I have to run out for a hour or so, I'll be back though, before dinner."

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Jackson took in the surroundings, the large home with the wrought iron fence, keeping the world out while giving glimpses into the wealth that laid on the other side. The shiny black luxury cars and the sports cars. The shiny red pair of sports car that peeked out from the slightly opened garage doors. He moved towards the house, easily lifting himself over the gate and strolling right to the front gate. He pressed the doorbell and waited for an answer impatiently.

"Well, well, well, to what do I owe this surprise visit?" The brunette looked at Jax before crossing her arms over her chest. "Finally decided you needed those therapy sessions after all then? Come on, come lay on my sofa."

He flashed her a brief grin before shaking his head slowly. "No, not here for therapy sessions. I don't want to open that can of worms just yet." He shrugged as he followed her into the first garage. "You went to law school right?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "Before I realized I actually wanted to pursue a different life career, why? Do you need asylum? Who are you running from?"

"I have a hardass ADA on my case." he walked into the house, stopping to toe off his sneakers before following the brunette into the large living room. "I think you have the attitude to go against her and at least shake her up. I hear being a lawyer is more about having a strong personality and just knowing half of what you were taught in school."

"Who told you that shit because it's a lie?" She laughed as she dropped onto the sofa and eyed him carefully. "I don't know, I never put it into practice after college and all of that shit but I guess I can help you. You are going to owe me big time for this. What hardass lawyer is on you?"

"Her name is Sunshine Vellenueva." He dropped a picture on the table. "Don't let the looks fool you, she's a slobbery pitbull, just chomping at the bit to do some major damage to me and my life."

"Ha." She picked up the picture and shook her head. "I'm not going against her, not at all. I went to law school with her. I've seen her argue and win a case based on one piece of evidence and that happened to be the fact that the kid chewed the same brand of gum that was found at the crime scene." She dropped the picture. "I won't win against her."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, so you won't even take on the challenge?" He nodded his head slowly. "And to think I thought you were a woman who loved a challenge. Emilia Ibarra, wussing out."

"No, no." She shook her head again and sat up straight. "You know what? I'm going to take on this challenge. Not because you called me a wuss either, just because I lost that case against her. I don't even care that it was mock court either, it was still dumb."

"Good." He smirked at her as he relaxed back into the plush pillows of the oversized sofa. "Welcome to the team."

* * *

 **I think I said over on tumblr that Emilia was going to make a comeback and after thinking it over and over, I felt like she would be a good match to go against Sunny or at least try her best. It'll be fun to see those interactions and it'll also be nice to see how far Jackson goes to protect Tara and keep her from losing her life and losing out on seeing Abel and Thomas grow up and hopefully become something other than outlaws.**

 **Sorry for the delay in updates but I appreciate the continued support and let me know your thoughts and predictions. Also, sorry for those who may not like that Emilia is back but she's been revamped, so she's not entire the same OC she was in Foolish Ambiguity, may that story rest in peace wherever it is because I still can't figure out what happened to it.**


	6. Villain

"Oh, this is fun." Sunny grumbled as she walked into the large conference room and took a seat. She had gotten a call late Sunday night, informing her that there would be an additional attorney on the Teller case. That didn't surprise her at all though, Lowen was good but she didn't have the personality to be the best. "A new attorney to go up against."

"It's an old friend of yours." Joseph looked at the brunette. "Emilia Ibarra."

"Oh, this should be fun as hell." She laughed. "We hate each other so much."

He nodded slowly. "Tell me about it? Why do you two hate each other?"

"Because I got her client sentenced to death over a piece of gum and she flipped out. The trial was fake and it was practice but I outsmarted her and her client crumbled in court." She shrugged her shoulders. "Last I checked she was a doctor and talked to people about her issues. So, she does have that advantage. Knowing how the mind works and all of that shit. I feed of emotion and logic, she goes off fact and logic. It'll make for a fun time."

"A piece of gum?" He looked at her and smirked. "That's a reach right?"

"Huge reach." She shrugged again. "I had nothing to go on and I found a piece of chewed up gum and a wrapper and it all fell together. So I went up and I bullshitted my ass off. Saying the chewed up gum matched up with a piece we found in his car and he started to sing. It was insane."

"You are a big bullshitter." Joseph nodded. "You did that shit when you wanted the truth out of me. I was backed into a corner."

She laughed. "I'm big on honesty and all of that. I told you that when we first dated. I don't take any shit and cheating is a big no. You let me down and broke my heart. So I took all that I could from you."

"As I look at the alimony check I have to start giving to you, I'm kicking myself." He shook his head. "On to important shit. What are we going to do about this new addition? Can you scare her off?"

"I can try to." She nodded slowly. "I have to pay a visit to Charming. I have to remind Tara that I'm here to make her life hell until I get some justice. I can't visit her at her home or the clubhouse but they didn't say anything about anywhere else."

"Just gonna poke holes in this then? Use all of the loopholes?" He smiled. "I advise against that but you seem set on doing so. Please, don't get arrested or shot at or beat up. I don't think this team or department need some type of scandal."

Sunshine looked at him, shrugging slightly as she tied her up. "I won't get into trouble, I won't get killed, I won't get arrested, I won't get beat up or anything. I promise and unlike you, I keep my promise."

"You are not gonna let me live it down huh?" He groaned. "I regret what I did and you know that."

"Don't plan on it." She patted his face. "You do research or whatnot on Emilia, I am making that trip to Charming."

"I have to voice one concern." He cleared his throat. "That guy, Happy. I don't think it's wise to keep his type of company around. Not during this time anyways. He could be a rat or double agent."

She scoffed. "Ha! Happy a snitch? He'd rather die than ever misplace loyalty. He's a friend, he values friendships and he values honesty and all of it. I honestly would be more worried about you being flipped and turning against me and the team." She shrugged. "Do something case related, okay? We need to work together to get this case settled and won."

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"Didn't my lawyers tell you that you couldn't harass me?" Tara looked at Sunshine and shook her head. "Should I call the cops now?"

"Well, if we're getting technical here, they said I couldn't bug you at home or at the clubhouse. They said nothing about at work or running errands." Sunshine shrugged as she smiled at the brunette. "So, here I am. Reminding you that I'm still building my case and I cannot wait to put you behind bars for a few years." She chuckled. "Or a lot of years, who am I kidding right now? I kinda wanna take away the rest of your life. It's not like you're doing anything productive with it anyways."

"Why are you so deadset on making my life a hell?" She slammed the metal drawer and stared at the brunette. "Why? What did I do to you this time? This is some high school bullshit grudge you're holding!"

"It's not but you can continue to think that." The taller brunette yawned. "I'm not out to make your life a hell but fuck, if it's part of this process then I'm good with that. I'm here to seek justice for a nurse that was brutally murdered by a man. A man who got his murder weapon from you. My sole purpose is to seek justice for those who can't get it themselves. The guilty conscience is weighing on you and I can tell. It's not easy falling asleep at night, knowing that you played a huge part in a murder."

"I don't have anything to say to you and I want you to know that I've hired a better attorney." Tara set her coffee down. "She'll be speaking with you very soon."

"Oh, I know." Sunshine shrugged. "Emilia Ibarra, psychiatrist and lawyer. I'm not worried about her. I was in school with her. Beat her then and I'll beat her now. I'm just excited that you finally found a competent person."

"She'll put an end to this harassment." Tara nodded. "Maybe you can find something else to focus on because you're not getting anywhere here and I prefer to deal with Patterson."

"Eh, I have nothing else to do honestly." She smirked. "I like to put heat on people. Wait for them to slip up. I see that you've been in contact with Wendy Case. That's interesting, I found it interesting. Making moves. I can't wait to see the next move you make. Until then, just think about making a deal with me. Maybe you'll catch me in a generous mood and I'll offer witsec for you and the boys. Oh, wouldn't that be so lovely? New life and a clean slate for the three of you? Here's my card, keep it."

"I don't want anything from you and like I said before I won't give up my husband." Tara shook her head. "I will deal with Patterson and not you."

* * *

"I wanna do this." Emilia walked into the spacious office, looking around until her eyes fell on the one person she was actually looking for. "Villain!"

"Ibarra." Sunshine glanced up from her laptop and smirked. "What brings you here? Let me guess, you need legal representation? Sorry to say I am a prosecutor. I no longer represent the little people."

"I'm here about my client, Tara Knowles." Emilia stopped at the desk. "She's saying you continue to harass her."

She sighed, turning the laptop around for the raven haired woman to see. "Watch." She hit the spacebar and shrugged. "You are representing a guilty party Emilia. I've submitted this and I will be doing my best to get the longest and harshest sentence possible. _Unless…_ "

"Unless what?" Emilia took a seat and closed the laptop. "Unless what Sunshine? I see the gears turning."

"She gives me something on her husband and his club. Then I'll turn my attention elsewhere and I'll leave her alone." She smirked. "Come on, what jury is going to watch this footage and think she's naive and innocent in this?"

"She's not going to give up the club, she doesn't have a goddamn lick of sense when it comes to that man." Emilia laughed. "You ever been so in love that it blinds you from what your spouse truly is?"

"Can't say that I have." She shrugged. "I've been in love like twice, both times the guys cheated but I'm beginning to think that's because I'm not enough or whatever." She shook her head and winked. "I am all for a free therapy session Dr. Ibarra, bring on the mind games. She has common sense, it just hasn't kicked in, she needs a kick in the ass, a nudge in the right direction and I have one."

"What are you going to do?" She leaned forward and smiled. "I think you should book a few sessions when this is all said and done."

"Damn." Sunshine leaned closer to Emilia and nodded slowly. "Moved up her court date, well Patterson did anyways. She should be telling that to Tara today. I'm sure they'll all come whining to you about it too. I'll be kicked back, enjoying life and having fun."

"I won't be able to get her to take a deal unless it's something really good." Emilia sighed. "You have to make it a good and solid deal Sunshine."

"I'm willing to forgo any charges against her, offer her and the boys witsec _if_ she cooperates and helps me bring down her husband and his club." She grinned from ear to ear, relaxing in her plush office chair before bringing her booted feet to rest on her desk. "It's a solid deal, she's away from this mess, she gets to raise her boys and her boys won't fall into the toxic shit that is the Sons of Anarchy. Most of all, we'll put monsters behind bars. These men have murdered and trafficked drugs… We need them off the streets."

Emilia nodded slowly. "Write out the deal, make it as detailed as possible and I'll see what I can do but if she doesn't take it, then we move forward and we take it to court and duel it out in there."

"I'm hoping we can skip court. I do not wanna get in there and murder you all with my case because it is solid." She smiled. "If we're done here, you can leave and I'll have a copy of the deal to you by tomorrow morning. I'm off for the rest of today. I am going home, getting into comfy clothes and relaxing."

"It is noon on a Wednesday." Emilia huffed. "How are you even ADA?"

"Oh, I'm well aware of what time and day it is. It's been a long morning, Emilia." She stood up and stretched. "I had to work and talk to people. It wore me out." She laughed as she started to pack up her things. "It's been good seeing you again and I look forward to our many run ins and conversations. Please, have her make that deal. I may be a hardass towards her but I don't think children should be raised by strangers. I think the mom should raise her children, especially a mom that is fighting for the best for her kids."

 **.**

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"So, I met with Sunshine." Emilia looked at Jax. "She has video footage on her laptop of Tara and Otto, even of her sneaking the crucifix to him. Keyword being sneaking because if she thought it was innocent, she would've given it to him outright. It's not looking good Jackson."

Jax nodded slowly, rubbing her forehead before looking up at the brunette. "So, if we can get to the laptop, is there a way we can corrupt the file?"

"She's not an idiot, she's probably submitted copies already and she's probably already backed it up somewhere." She shook her head as she took a seat. "It's not looking good but I'm going to do my best and I know we'll be able to win against her, we just need to find one hole in her case. We need to pick apart her idea on why Tara did what she did. If we can make that fall apart, we will win the case and this will be all a thing of the past."

"Juice isn't an idiot either, he can corrupt anything." He sighed. "Do you even know why she thinks Tara did what she did?"

"You're so lucky I'm your attorney but I cannot condone using illegal methods and destroying evidence." She furrowed her brow. "I already know you're going to do what you want to do, so just don't tell me about it, alright?"

"I won't tell you unless you need to know." He shrugged. "I just want her off of Tara, she doesn't deserve this shit. She was doing a favor for the club. She got caught up in my shit."

"Oh." Emilia shook her head slowly. "Okay, so there's the truth. Good to know."

He nodded his head slowly, glancing at the brunette before shrugging slightly as he relaxed further into the sofa. "Well, you're the attorney, we have client privilege or whatever. You can't repeat any of that."

"That's not true Jackson." She frowned. "I'm not your lawyer, you hired me to represent Tara. So technically, if I'm brought up on the stand to testify against you, I will be held accountable to tell the truth. So, hire me or something."

"Okay, you're on retainer." He smirked at her. "You have your shit cut out for you." He stood up and patted her thigh. "I'll see you around. Keep me updated."


	7. Killer

"She's not going to go easy." Emilia looked at Tara and shook her head slowly. "She's a rabid pitbull in the courtroom. She didn't get the nickname Villain for no reason. She's going to tear you apart. It's my job to mount the best defense so we have to be solid with what we bring to the table."

"Great." Tara murmured. "I take a deal and turn on my husband and his club or I take a chance and go up against Sunshine and go to jail for the rest of my life."

The brunette nodded slowly. "It's not that black and white." She took a seat. "I know that Sunshine may even try to present a death sentence. It's something she likes to toss out. It backs people into a corner. It's a game of picking a lesser evil."

"Death penalty?" Tara shook her head frantically. "I can't get a death penalty Emilia."

"I am well aware of that." Emilia nodded her head again. "I'm trying to wrack my brain and figure out some ulterior motive behind everything. I can't find anything at all, I just see an ADA who wants to exact justice. She's doing exactly what she's paid to do, what she's gone to school to do."

"So, unless we can mount a good defense against her, then I have no shot at getting off." Tara sighed as she rested her face in her hands and took in a deep breath. She had no idea what she was about to do to get off but she knew she had to do something to stay with her boys and out of prison. "Can we poke holes? Get her thrown off or something?"

"The thing is that her case is airtight." She shrugged her shoulders. "I went to visit her and she showed me what she had and it's not good for you and it's not good for us. I suggest trying to make a deal, probation and house arrest. You don't have any significant offenses. You have some juvenile offenses but that's it. I think if we can talk directly to Patterson then we may have a case. I don't want to deal with Sunshine because she's the harsher one of the two, believe it or not."

"I believe it." Gemma walked into the room. "Thomas wants you, he's crying."

"Thank you." Tara took her son and kissed his head. "Emilia was giving me my options."

"Legal options huh?" Gemma looked at the brunette before shaking her head. "I say we deal with her our own way. Can't prosecute if she's not in the picture."

"Oh, this family is fun." Emilia murmured as she looked up at Gemma. "As your attorney, I can't condone that but also as your attorney, I can't repeat anything that either of you say to me."

"I know a guy." Gemma nodded slowly. "Just say the word and I'll call him Tara."

"We are not conspiring to commit murder right now are we? Not when I'm already on the hook for a murder charge?" Tara shook her head before standing up. "I'm going to feed him and get him down for a nap. Let me know any news Emilia. I'll be in touch."

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"I like to think that I'm the best at what I do but sometimes even I surprise myself." Sunshine smirked as she walked into Emilia's office and took a seat. "You visited me, so I decided to return the favor." She knocked her knuckles on the glass desk. "Fancy digs you have here, almost nicer than my office."

"What do I owe the joy of this visit?" Emilia looked up from her folder and smiled. "I know this has to be a business call."

"Yeah, it's something like that." She leaned forward. "I want us to team up. Before you shoot down the idea, hear me out for a few moments okay?"

She nodded her head slowly. "Consider my interest piqued."

"You're on a losing case, that's clear and it's not up for debate. We team up, we work together and we can bring down the criminal entity that is the Sons of Anarchy." Sunny smiled. "I see that twinkle in your eyes. See, I look it like this, you're either fighting for the good guys or fighting for the bad guys. Do you want the bad guys to win? Do you want that type of violence in your life? In your daughter's life? We have to bring the Sons down, we have to make it a better place. They sold guns to a street gang, one of the member's girlfriend's kid got a hold of the gun and shot up a school full of innocent kids and adults. Do you really want that to go without some type of ending? For chrissakes, you're defending a murderer."

"She's not a murderer, she just supplied the weapon. She's an accessory." Emilia sighed as she looked at Sunshine. "I hate you so damn much but you're playing the kid card and I'm interested. What'll happen to Tara?"

"I guess I can drop prosecution and focus on Jackson and the Sons but only if Tara takes a plea deal and she helps the case against the club." She smirked. "Come on, it's a solid idea and just imagine being on the winning side for once Ibarra. We would make an unstoppable duo. Let me remind you, we're both Latina, we both come from iffy backgrounds but we made something of ourselves. Do not tie yourself to a losing case Emilia, jump ship and I'll make sure you get the glory you deserve."

"Damn, you're good." Emilia laughed as she leaned closer to Sunshine and nodded. "You're a fast talker and I want to say you're a bit nervous about going up against me."

"Nervous? I wouldn't call it nervous. I'm excited to see what you have." She tapped a nail on Emilia's nose. "Let's see, I'll give you until next Thursday to make a decision. The day before our first court appearance." She stood up and smiled. "Be smart about this Emilia Ibarra, jump to the winning team. You will not regret it at all."

* * *

"Can I ask you a question?" Sunshine looked over at Happy before taking a swig of her beer. "It's a serious question. You don't have to answer it if you don't want to, alright? I'd appreciate the honesty though because it's been gnawing at me for a while now."

"Go for it." Happy looked at the brunette and nodded. "I'll try my best to answer the question."

She nodded slowly before taking a deep breath. "You're like the club's enforcer right? So, you kinda handle all of the dirty business that no one else wants to or can handle. With that being said, can you be honest and tell me if you were the one who killed Esai?"

He eyed the brunette carefully before nodding once. "Thought you were over asking questions you already know the answers to?"

"I figured but I wanted to hear it from you." She sighed as she relaxed into the sofa. "Esai was like my best friend and my second love." She laughed. "We didn't work out because he loved his club way more. I think we made it nine months into a relationship. I'd call him once a week, he'd never return my calls until Friday mornings though. Then one week it stopped and then I got the news that Esai was gone. He had a little family that he left behind. Like, I felt bad for the kids. I reached out to his wife and she got so angry at me that we had to be sat on different sides at the funeral." She shook her head. "It's stupid. I miss him though."

"I'm sorry about your friend but he tried to kill my former president." Happy shook his head slowly. "It ain't nothin' to be sad about though. You still got people around. I'm still your friend girl."

"Pretty, girl, baby girl, little one. These pet names give me the feeling of you trying to be dominant." She pulled her shirt off and groaned. "Remind me to lower the temp when I get up."

"You don't seem to mind though." He smirked at her and shrugged. "I thought you'd be pissed at me for my answer."

"No." She shook her head slowly. "I don't expect good to come from the Sons. You're all men who do bad things. Some of you are good men who do bad things. I don't know, I've just come to just expect nothing but bad." She stood up and yawned. "I just can't be pissed at you. Get over it." She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Little one." Happy smirked as he stood up and moved towards the brunette. "Stop eye fucking me. I'm not a piece of meat."

"I mean, if you're gonna be walking around shirtless, then I'm going to take in the view." She smirked back at him. "I'm gonna objectify the shit out of you. You're welcome handsome. Also, how do we always go from something serious to flirting? You owned up to killing my friend and for some reason I'm very attracted to you right now."

"Laws of attraction or something." He licked his lips and shrugged. "Sucks for you because this is off limits." He smirked at her.

She rolled her eyes before grabbing his hands. "You're terrible to me and I'm terrible before being attracted to a killer."

"Opposites attract." He nodded slowly as he rested his hands on her hips before leaning closer to her. "I have to go though, club business." He smirked at her. "You should really take a cold shower or get laid or something."

"Evil." She shook her head before dropping back down to the sofa and groaning. "So evil. I don't like you anymore."

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"There's something wrong with me." Sunshine looked at her aunt. "I found out that Happy killed Esai and I am still overly sexually attracted to Happy. It's killing me. It's so wrong. Like he owned up to it and all I wanted to do was jump his bones." She groaned as she pushed her plate away. "I hate me."

Maria laughed and nodded her head slowly. "Breath mija. You'll be fine. It's nothing weird, you're attracted to the man, he's easy on the eyes, a bit older than you but not bad, you like honesty and he's been very honest with you. So, you gotta look at it like this, can you get past all of the bad parts of him? Do you just want to sleep with him? Or what?"

"I don't honestly know. Maybe I have to sleep with him then decide." She laughed and shook her head. "See, it's been way too long since I've had sex and now I'm some sex crazed woman. I don't know. I'm just trying to let it all happen organically. It's just weird, like I know he's a bad guy but I still let him stay in my home, I still call him my best friend and I still wanna see if he fucks like I think he fucks. Pardon my language."

"Woman to woman?" The older woman smiled. "Embrace the sexuality and go after what you want. If it's good it's good, if it's bad it's bad and you know not to do it again." She shrugged. "You're not seventeen anymore Sunny, get laid, be safe about it though. I've seen those things that walk around that clubhouse. I've treated a few for some undesirable diseases."

"You're right." She nodded slowly. "I'm gonna embrace it. I'm going to grab the bull by the horns and fuck Happy. Okay, don't talk about diseases because I'll just barf my dinner back up. How are things going with your boyfriend?"

"Things are good, he'll be home this weekend. I want you around." She winked. "Don't put too much thought in it Sunshine. You know what you want and you go after it, don't second guess yourself and stop your natural instincts either. If you don't take charge, you'll never get what you want."

"Life just makes no damn sense." Sunshine murmured to herself. "I wanna fuck the man that killed my Esai. Ha. It's terrible. I'm terrible but let's see what's going to happen next."

* * *

 **I know, I've been slow on updating but I do appreciate the support and the reviews. I'm having fun with this story and seeing all the dynamics. Especially Sunny & Happy. it's weird but it's fun. it's throwing the usually self sure Sunshine for a loop and she's dumbfounded. but hey, we all love our Killer Happy lol **


	8. Lines Drawn

"I think that I need to take a step back for a moment." Sunshine ran her hands through her long brown hair and sighed as she studied the pictures on the corkboard. "This is my goal here. Take down the Sons of Anarchy with the least amount of casualties. I however will happily take down any wives that willingly and knowingly protect their husbands… Hence going after Tara so hard, she's going to crack. Ethos, logos, pathos. Three very important things."

Tyne nodded slowly. "Ethics, logic and emotion. Appeal to all three of them with Mrs. Teller and we're onto something."

"Exactly. We hit logic and emotion, we're teetering on ethics, almost there. We just need another nudge." She smiled. "I plan to send in Joseph for that kill. He's an asshole but he's amazing at what he does. I also may be recruiting Emilia Ibarra. I rather work with her than against her. I don't like the whole playing with the psyche thing she does."

"I have a meeting with Mrs. Teller soon." The older woman sat up straighter. "I can make this a thing that happens. I'll play with logic and emotion a bit more. She's a mother and the threat of being away from her children is something she can't stomach."

"You do the hardwork and I'll have fun." Sunshine chuckled. "If you'll excuse me, I have a clubhouse to go and rile up."

 **.**

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"I see you." Emilia fell into step with Sunshine as they both headed towards the entrance of the clubhouse. "Pleasure or business?"

"Well, if I can get Happy to be a slut for me then it'd be both." Sunshine shrugged as she glanced at the shorter brunette. "Come on, he's handsome or are you more so into the blonde biker?"

"Mr. Lowman is handsome." Emilia nodded slowly. "I'm thinking that Jax is more your type and maybe you'll get lucky with Juice. He seems like he'd be eager to please."

She stopped and laughed. "You think about my offer?" She irked an eyebrow at Emilia. "Come on, we could be so amazing together. You can do all of the doctoring shit and I can do the arguing shit. Match perfectly crafted in hell."

"I thought about it but I can't do it. Jax is a long time friend of mine and I owe him this favor." Emilia smiled. "It's called loyalty."

"He's loyal until it no longer suits him." Sunshine pulled Emilia off to the side. "Don't trust him and you better watch your back Emilia. He'll be quick to stab you in it. He's not someone you should be loyal to. It won't do you any good. Trust me."

"Why should I trust you?" She looked up at Sunny, watching her jaw tense and relax. "Tell me why?"

"Because I want justice." She nodded slowly. "Imagine if Ava had been at that school? Could you look at him the same if he had put your child in danger? Look at the big picture Emilia, Tara is the creation of unwavering loyalty to a man who doesn't deserve it. She's our age but she looks battered and worse for wear. She's frantic and she's anxious. She's not loyal to that man for herself anymore, she's loyal for those two boys. Look at the fear in her eyes when they're together. Mother to mother, talk to her in private. Away from Gemma and Jax. She knows what she needs to do but she's afraid that she's going to lose her life."

"I hate you." Emilia shook her head slowly. "Bitch I hate you so much. Why did I listen to all of that? I'm just here to make a defense that'll hold up to your attack. I know all of that already Sunshine, it's nothing new but fuck. I have to do what I came here to do. Defend against your amazonian ass. I just absolutely hate you and stay away from Happy, he's mine."

"I'm gonna sock you." Sunshine groaned. "We're still mortal enemies but whatever. Please, watch your back. I don't want any casualties in this process. We are grown ass women, you can't call dibs on Happy. I technically saw him first anyway. Knew him since I was like seventeen."

"I asked him to have dinner and he said yes." Emilia shrugged. "You're losing this on Sunny Girl."

"But he lives with me" She shook her head. "Stop toying with my head right now. You're not exploiting him as a weakness because he's not."

"Or is he?" Emilia smirked. "Finally someone besides your mom that you care about."

"I don't like you." Sunshine smiled. "But this is going to be an amazing time, I know it will be."

"Leave my clients alone." Emilia started walking back towards the clubhouse. "You cannot be over here. It's a bad look."

"Why are you like this? Did you parents not love you when you were a child? Does the lamborghini you drive not do it for you?" Sunshine followed after Emilia and laughed. "What'll happen if I don't leave? Will you call that dying sheriff Unser on me?"

"I will call Unser." she nodded slowly. "The lambo does amazing things for me. It's a beast of a machine, maybe I'll let you drive it someday. I know driving, a um, what's your car again? Something cute and basic, a Mercedes."

"I drive an LR4." Sunshine deadpanned as she looked at Emilia. "And a Mercedes. She's not basic, she's a beast of a machine too. Don't ever insult Tosca again. She's done nothing to you ever."

"What're you doing here?" Gemma looked between the women. "I thought she wasn't allowed here?"

"She's not, I was grabbing my bag so I can call the sheriff to remove her." Emilia looked at Gemma. "She's leaving right now."

"But we were becoming besties!" Sunshine nodded eagerly. "I was threatening you, you were analyzing me. We were having a grand ol' time."

"Go on." Gemma pointed towards the parking lot. "Get out of here while you still can walk right."

 **SOA**

"Isn't it conflict of interest for you to be living with Sunshine?" Juice looked at Happy as they racked up the weights. "I mean she's going after Tara."

"Ain't my business." Happy shrugged his shoulders as he wiped his head off with a towel. "She's doing her job and I'm minding my own business unless I need to be involved in it." He shook his head slowly. "

"You're a little too close to her, if something needs to happen, you're too close." Tig looked between the pair. "If Jax orders you to scare her or worse, you won't be able to do your job man."

"Jax ain't gonna have me hurt the girl." He shrugged again. "You don't go kill off a DA. Scare 'em? Yeah but not kill 'em. Would you go after her? You've known her for a long time. Could you look her in the eyes and scare the fuck out of her?"

"I'll do what I need to do for my club." Tig nodded his head. "What about you?"

Happy pointed to a picture on the wall. "She's a kid of a member who was the First 9. I'm sure if she's harmed in anyway, the club will have to answer to someone."

"We eliminate threats to the club." Tig nodded. "First 9 kid or not Happy. Toughen back up Killer. She's got you being soft as butter."

 **.**

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"You shouldn't be smoking." Happy slipped the cigarette from Sunshine's fingers and brought it up to his lips. "Thought you quit."

"I'm stressed." Sunshine shrugged as she shifted on the porch swing. "Don't judge me either. I worked sixteen hours today. I had to work cases that weren't even mine. I won but still, I'm a wreck. Sit down, you look like you need an ear."

"Nah." He shook his head as he stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray. "I just came to get my shit. Moving back to the clubhouse. I need to be closer now."

She nodded slowly. "Finally figured out us being friends and roommates was a conflict of interest for you?" She shook her head and smiled. "I did laundry, so all your stuff is folded on your bed already."

"Somethin' like that." He nodded. "I could've done my own laundry. You didn't have to do it."

"It's whatever." She shrugged as she lit another cigarette. "I guess we'll never get to sleep together and regret it now." She laughed as she took a drag of the cigarette. "I was looking forward to finally cutting through the sexual tension."

"Sometimes you gotta just keep your thoughts to yourself." He laughed. "You can find someone else to get laid by, you're a pretty girl."

"I'm aware." Sunny nodded slowly. "I don't even care to keep my thoughts to myself. Honesty is good and needed." She stood up and moved to the front door. "Leave the key on the entryway table, I have to prep for a hearing in the morning and I have a ton of reading up to do on it." She smiled as she patted his shoulder. "Do what you have to do, I won't be mad at you for it."

"I'll just hand it to you." He passed her the keychain and shrugged. "Thanks for letting me crash and not have to pay rent or anything."

"That's what friends are for." She tossed the key onto the table. "I gotta do this reading. Just set the alarm behind you when you leave."

"Why are you being weird?" Happy looked at Sunshine. "You scared or something?"

"Nope." She shook her head. "I mean this is all out of nowhere. It took me by surprise and that's very rare. I don't know, I'm not ready for our friendship to be over just yet, I guess. I'm light on friends if you hadn't noticed. I mean my best friend from college is defending the woman I wanna put in prison."

"I thought you two were enemies" he shrugged. "I don't understand women."

"We are in our professional lives." Sunny shook her head. "I had to sit back and watch her work a friendship out with Jax because if a woman doesn't like a man or another woman with her ex it's a case of jealousy. He fucking lived a double life with her. It's fucked up. I knew the truth but I'm seen as the bitter ex if I speak up. I had to bite my tongue and not hit her with an I told you so. Like Jackson cannot be trusted. I warned her about it. Him or Gemma cannot be trusted. I am seen as the bitter vindictive ex girlfriend. All my titles stripped. How fucked up is that? Not ADA Vellenueva, just revenge seeking ex. Ha."

Happy shifted and nodded. "I guess I can see how that sucks."

She chuckled and nodded. "Men will never understand it." She shrugged. "Wait for it though. I'll get what's mine."

"Keep your gun close." Happy smirked. "Just as a precaution since you're losing your bodyguard."

"Bodyguard? I wasn't aware. You just lazed around, ate Chinese and watched cartoons." She laughed. "I was more of a bodyguard than you were. Get out of here before I beat you. I can take care of myself quite fine. If Jax or Gemma wanna scare me into backing down then they better fucking bring it to my front door because my aunt is on an extended vacation and I don't even know where my mom is."

"If you're so sure Jax is gonna go after you then why proceed?" He glared at her. "Get out why you still can."

"Because I took an oath. I took an oath to bring justice forth. I'm not afraid of you and I'm definitely not afraid of whatever little pussy ass man who's gonna do Jax's dirty work." She scoffed. "My dad was first 9, that comes with reputation and prestige. He's only gonna fuck over SAMCRO if something happens to me if he's behind it."

"Don't be stupid." Happy growled. "Don't be your dad and let the club end your life. He wouldn't want that and you shouldn't want it. Resign and go back to being under the radar. Go find some dick and be happy again. This stressed out nutcase isn't you. You ain't got shit to prove. Look me in the eyes and tell me resigning would ruin your career. You made it to the top. Let the talent speak."

"I wouldn't know. I don't know my dad." She wiped at her face. "JT was more of my dad. Then Michael was my dad. They're all in the ground. All three of them…" she shook her head. "It won't ruin my career. It won't have an impact on it unless I either win or lose. I wanna _win_. I _have_ to win. I wanna go further in my career. I wanna be the best. I want Patterson's job. I need that position. This is my life. I'll never marry again, I'll never have kids. This is all that I have Happy. That's why I'm so passionate about it."

"Will it have been worth the fight if you don't make it out the other side unharmed?" He shook his head. "Think about it. Sometimes you gotta pick the right fight to be passionate about."

* * *

Someone asked the history between Emilia and Jackson, they were just friends It was a friendship built on a white lie told by Jax. Sunny and Emilia were like besties in college, they just simply grew somewhat a part. You saw glimpses of their history and well, there's a whole lot of angst, love and smut coming at you in the next few chapters. Sorry for the lack of updating. Im a full time mom, part time student and I work full time now. So it's a process finding time but luckily I hit my muse and I have 5 chapters written and ready.


	9. Nothing

"We are working through this. We are going to be better than we were yesterday." Sunshine looked at her reflection in the full length mirror and smiled. Taking in the curves that once were nonexistent. She was no longer tall and twig like. She was shapely and she knew that she had to use that to her advantage. "Better."

She stepped into her dark blue dress, moaning softly at the way it hugged her curves tightly. It was sadly the most intimate touch she's had in months. She shook her head, shrugging into her dad's kutte. She was out to make a scene. Let the club know she was anything but afraid of them.

The material was soft, the patches in perfect condition still. _First 9. Redwood Original. Sgt at Arms._ One she never understood until a conversation with Happy. Her dad was basically the person who handled all of the dirty work. The blood was on his hands.

At the end of the day, her dad was just as bad and just as guilty as the men she wanted to bring down. The men she grew up with, her friends. All criminals and killers. That fact had washed away the last grain of guilt she had felt for wanting to watch the club burn.

She may be a child of a First 9 member but she also knew right from wrong. It was black and white. No gray areas involved. There would never be a justifiable reason behind the acts of terror the club committed. She was going to shut the club down even if she perished in the process.

 **.**

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"What is she doing here?" Tara watched Sunshine walk into the clubhouse before turning to her husband and shaking her head slowly. "She doesn't give up."

"She doesn't." Jax smirked and shook his head. His blue eyes on the brunette before he looked at Tara. "She's just being immature. She's trying to make some kind of point."

"Yeah, that I'm just as important to this club as you are." Sunshine smiled brightly at the couple. "I assume my invitation was lost in the mail." She grabbed a beer and sighed. "Haven't seen Jury since I was half this height. I was always a favorite among the charters. If I had a dick, I'd be VP right now."

"I don't know." Jax shook his head. "I still think you would've hightailed it out of Charming. Some people just aren't cut out for this lifestyle darlin'."

"Oh honey, you have no idea." She patted his face. "I can adapt to any lifestyle. Now if you'll excuse me. I have some people to get reacquainted with."

"Hold up." Jax followed after Sunny. "Adapt? You've never had to adapt. You got out of Charming, twice. What you have had to adapt to? You weren't stuck with anyone here."

"Why are you following me? Go be a husband." She waved him off. "I can adapt. I have adapted. Marriage, divorce. I can adapt. I can change things up." She stopped at the bar. "Do you have coke? The soda not the drug."

"You came here to prove something." He murmured to her. "No one cares about you. You have no allies here. You're the enemy."

Sunshine nodded slowly and smiled before turning to look him in the eyes. "I'm here to watch you squirm." She tapped her nails on the bartop. "You have your friends. I have mine." She shrugged slightly. "Hmm, I swear I invited some friends here. They should be here any second now."

"San Joaquin Sheriff's Department!" The officers busted in. "Everyone on the ground!"

"There they are." She laughed. "Gotta hate party crashers right? I love this though. I really do." She stepped over Jax and head towards Tara. "Arrest her, she's in violation of her bail."

"What?" Tara gasped as she was roughly pulled up to her feet. "You can't do this."

"Oh but I can." Sunshine grinned. "ADA, I can do what I want. Like revoke a person's bail or what have you. Perks of being a boss." She shrugged. "You should see the dumbass look on your face right now. Pure comedy. I love it. I do."

 **SOA**

"What did you do?" Emilia looked at Sunshine. "You have nearly forty Sons in holding cells. Tara's distraught because she's back in jail!"

"Good morning, I'm great. Thank you for asking." Sunshine shrugged. "I'm kinda in the middle of breakfast. Long night. So many probation and parole violations. Lots of prospects squealing like piglets. It's amazing really."

"Are we cutting a deal?" Emilia slapped the table. Irritation etched into her already angry expression. "Or are you gonna keep flaunting your pull?"

"I dunno." She took a sip of her coffee. "I honestly wanna finish my breakfast. Then I wanna go play with a detective and see if he'll help me out of this dress."

"Sunny!" Emilia growled. "You can't do this!"

"I'm sure I can hold everyone for forty eight hours." She sighed as she stood up. "I'm seriously sexually frustrated. I wanted to fuck Happy but he moved out. Now I gotta find another lay."

"Happy or Juice weren't at the party." She eyed the brunette carefully. "Did you plan that?"

"I'm not stupid." She shook her head. "If they weren't there then that's on them. I'm not into the whole making people look like they're cooperating. I'm also not even talking to anymore people. I'm gonna go home. Crawl into bed and take a nice nap."

"I will get you laid! Reinstate her bond. She can't be back in jail. She has kids. I know you can't relate but you can empathize." Emilia nodded. "Sunny, please?"

"First of all. No. Second of all, hell no. I'm doing my job!" Sunny nodded. "It's my job to put bad guys in jail."

"She's not a bad guy!" She exhaled. "She is a woman in love who did a series of bad things!"

"Hey! That's not my fucking fault! Her life! Her series of shitty choices!" Sunny growled. "Don't guilt me into letting her go free. She aided in an innocent woman's murder. I don't care if she has kids. I will do my job and put her behind bars for years. I will make sure her kids go to a good home. Don't lie and say you believe she's innocent and wasn't consciously aware of what she was doing."

"I am not saying that. Ease up and she may toss you a bone." Emilia sighed. "This is hard. When I agreed to this, I was told she was completely innocent and that I had nothing to worry about but going up against you. I'm trying to have a breakthrough with Tara but it hasn't happened yet. By the way everyone fucking hates you."

"I don't care if they hate me. I'm here to do my job." She shrugged. "Look at that being lied to again."

 **SOA**

"You're out." Emilia sat down. "It took me a bit but she finally budged. I know I said I would have you out in hours but this wasn't so bad."

"I want to make a deal." Tara nodded her head slowly. "I'll work with Patterson, I don't want to work with Sunny. I can't be in jail. I can't be away from my boys. I want to make a deal with her. Witness protection for me and my boys."

"Are you sure?" She nodded slowly, taking out her notebook. "We should outline some terms. So you can go to Patterson and know exactly what you are going to say. I'll make sure Sunny has no part in this at all. Ok? We'll get you and your boys to safety."

"What about you? When Jax finds out, he'll be mad at you." She took the pen and furrowed her brow. "I'm sorry you're in this mess now."

"Trust me, Jackson won't fuck me over. He knows who my father is." Emilia smiled. "Focus on what's best for you and your boys. I'll worry about myself and my daughter."

"Who's your dad?" Tara smiled. "A Son? Mayan?"

She shook her head and chuckled. "Oh no. Neither of those. He's just a really mean man." She shrugged. "He socked Jax in the face the first time they met because he thought Jax broke into my home."

"Is it hard raising a kid on your own?" The older woman sighed. "I'm afraid to do it on my own."

"It's a challenge but it's worth it. Seeing Ava's accomplish all her milestones and knowing that I was the one behind it all. I can take all of the credit. Selfish but amazing." Emilia grinned. "You'll be great at it. Trust me you're basically a single mom now anyway."

 **.**

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"Lot of guts showing your face in Charming." Gemma looked at Sunny before shaking her head in disgust. "You show up to a clubhouse party, wearing your father's kutte and you disrespect it, him and your club family by having it raided by sheriffs."

Sunny nodded slowly as she looked slightly down at the woman. "Well, I figured I needed to finally stop fucking around and do what I get paid to do." She shrugged lazily. "I don't know though, I'm starting to think that this whole speech about the club being family only applies when you're in debt to the club or you need the club. I am not in debt nor do I need the club." She scoffed. "You can always swing by my office to try to get the kutte back."

"Don't want it back." She shook her head again, crossing her arms over her chest. "Look around you Sunshine, you have nothing going for you. You don't have friends, you don't have any family around. We're all you got when it's all said and done, all you have to do is stop going after Tara. I know that Jax would forgive you."

"I dunno." She examined her nails and nodded. "I'm not even on Tara's case anymore, which means one thing. She's managed to get off with the help of Emilia or she's made a deal with Patterson." She let out a long sigh. "I'm on to a bigger monster now though if you haven't already noticed."

"Tara would never make a deal." Gemma rolled her eyes. "She knows what's good for her."

Sunny nodded her head slowly and smiled. "Well, then maybe I rubbed Emilia the wrong way and she got me kicked off. I don't know but I do know that I'm working on a huge case and I'm going to be so happy when I win." She grabbed her milkshake. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I a job to get to."

 **Short but needed update. it's setting up for a whole lot of fun. thank you for sticking with me. I know it's a bit slow but it'll pick up. I promise.**


	10. Get Out

"Here we go, here we go, here we go." Emilia smiled at Tara and shrugged. "It's how I amp myself up before meetings. I used to jump up and down too but I learned a hard lesson when I did that and busted my ankle." She tapped her heels on the floor. "These kill 'em heels do not mix with jumping."

Tara nodded as she held up her foot. "Boots, fashionable and safe." She chuckled. "How much longer until she gets here?"

"Should be here soon. Sunny is no longer on the case, like for good for good this time." She nodded slowly as she checked the time on her Rolex. "Remember, you control this situation. You have something she wants. You're in control. We've gone over this hundreds of times now. You know what to ask for and how to turn the conversation around if she veers off track."

"I just want to get this over with." She rested her head against the wall and sighed. "Jax is going to hate me when he finds out what I did."

Emilia shook her head as she pulled her phone out of her jacket pocket. "Listen to me, this is about you and your boys. Do you want your boys growing up around this shit? Thinking this is the only way of life? Don't you want them to explore other things, college? Arts? I don't know, other things. I have a daughter, she's a dancer, she loves riding horses, her favorite color is rose gold, she hates asparagus and her best friend's name is Jessie." She chuckled. "She's the love of my life and it's why I spend about forty hours a week, in an overstuffed lazy boy listening to other people's problems. Sometimes you just need someone to listen to you. Judgement free zone."

"Did Jax use to talk to you like that?" Tara fiddled with the zippers on her leather jacket and sighed. "Did he open up to you?"

"Ha." She scoffed. "Uh, you know very well that he didn't do anything of that sort. He lied through his teeth. He had two separate lives and demeanors. I figured he was living the life that he wanted to live with the lie. An okay mechanic, with a GED and the hopes of one day being an author."

"Sorry that I'm running late. I had to sit in and watch ADA Vellenueva at work." Tyne smiled as she opened her office door. "After you Mrs. Teller, Miss Ibarra."

"Thank you." Tara nodded as she walked into the office, gingerly taking a seat and looking around the sparsely decorated office. "Thank you for meeting with us on such a short notice."

"No problem." Tyne took her seat and smiled at the pair. "So, please enlighten me. I'm sure you have some demands laid out in order for us to come to a deal that works for the both of us Mrs. Teller."

"I do." She unfolded a piece of paper. "I'm prepared to give you what you need but first, I want a guarantee that me and my boys will be placed somewhere that has no Sons of Anarchy charters, new names and new lives. I don't want to have to live looking over my shoulder that we'll be found. A job, any type of job, doesn't have to be in an hospital, maybe just a small doctor's office. I want a new history too, nothing that will tie my back to Charming. Can it be done? If not then no deal."

The woman nodded, taking the piece of paper and reading it over before smiling. "It can all be done, it may take a bit for the job thing but I'll have my best agents working on it Mrs. Teller. I know you'll probably want something to show proof, so I had some of my best put together these. New identities for the three of you." She laid out three passports. "We can come to an agreement on the names but that's just a mockup and background for you. You're originally from Alaska, you were adopted, so you have no ties to anyone and you moved to let's say Indiana, to raise your boys. Somewhere less corrupt than California but with a good educational system that's better than back home in the Yukon."

"Indiana would be a good place. I can't imagine there being a Sons of Anarchy, Indianapolis charter." Emilia looked the passports over and smiled. "Names aren't bad either, you look like a Margaret, Maggie for short. Your boys look like Brandon and Robert. B and Robbie." Emilia nodded. "The Morley Family."

"I don't care where we go or what our names are. I just want my boys to be safe. I want to give them a fighting chance." Tara nodded as she looked up at Tyne. "What do you want from me?"

"Anything that can put the guns in the Sons' hands, or something that'll open up RICO case. Any indiscretions that you've witnessed?" Tyne held out a pen. "Anything you can give me and I can have checked out. Do this for your boys."

"I hate to interrupt but I have to look out for Tara's best interest." Emilia nodded. "We'll give you something small, it's a token of good trust. You can trust us and we can trust you. I also need in writing that Sunshine will have no part in the three of us making and executing this deal."

"You have my word." She nodded slowly. "She won't be involved and I'll do everything in my power to make sure to get you and your boys out of town before anything goes down."

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"I made a deal." Tara looked at Jax. "Well, I want to make a deal to keep me out of jail and I want your help Jax."

"What do you mean?" Jax looked at his wife, setting his coffee mug down on the stained kitchen counter. "What do you mean you made a deal?"

She hugged herself and nodded slowly. "I-I-I spoke to the DA, I said I would make a deal in exchange for my freedom. I haven't told her anything yet or given her anything. She offered me and the boys witness protection if I turn on you Jax. I don't want that, I just want to stay out of prison. I need your help. We need to give her something. Anything."

"Tara, you didn't have to do that. I've been working on getting you off." Jax sighed as he ran his hands up and down his face. "I was going to get you off Tara."

"I had no choice. Sunny had me sitting back in jail. The trial was gonna be Friday Jax. So I spoke to Emilia and I told her I wanted to meet with Tyne. I told her what I would do and she's going to work with me. I wanted to tell you so that you could help. No secrets between us." She shook her head. "So, what can I safely give her?"

He eyed her carefully before shrugging his shoulders. "Nothing. There is nothing to give her that wouldn't put us all behind bars. Sunshine did her work, she did her research, she has shit on us that I don't even remember or know how she'd get. Like the shit she has is before Happy even turned back up in Charming. It's from when he was in Tacoma."

"So what do I do? She's expecting me to give her something!" Tara tangled her fingers in her short hair before groaning. "I need something. Anything. Even something new within the last few hours. Or what about Kohn?"

"No, no." He shook his head again. "I can't do that. I can't let you fess up to that. You'll be an accomplice. That's a big murder charge. He was a fucking fed. I'll think of something. I promise that I'll come up with something and let you know." He moved to her, pulling her into his arms before kissing her lips. "We're in this together."

 **SOA**

"Here we are. We are here, we are gonna get out and nothing bad will happen." Sunshine looked at the clubhouse and smiled. "You are strong, you are invincible and you will conquer this and you will be the best ADA in history."

She got out of her Mercedes, fixing her skirt before bumping the door shut with her hip. Rolling her shoulders back before slipping her sunglasses on her face. Her legs carrying her closer to the entrance of the clubhouse before being blocked.

"Um, excuse me." She looked at the guy, pushing her glasses on top of her head. "You're blocking my way."

"Do I know you?" The guy eyed her carefully.

"Sure, I know everyone." She smiled. "Sunshine Vellenueva. Here to see Marcus. Are you the bodyguard. You seem too old…"

"Nero Padilla." He chuckled. "You the lawyer?"

"Assistant District Attorney." Sunny stepped around him. "Here on personal business and not official business."

"Sunny." Marcus smiled at the brunette. "You got my message."

She nodded as she took his hand. "I did get your message. I came as soon as I was out of my last few meetings." She smiled. "What can I do for you? I thought you weren't gonna ask me for favors anymore?"

He chuckled as he lead her through the building and into his office. "Not a favor. I wanted to speak to you about Esai."

She inhaled deeply as she took a seat. "I miss him. A whole lot. That was my best friend. How's his family?"

"His daughter's mother is in some trouble." He nodded slowly. "His daughter is currently being held in placement. They won't release her to me or Esai's mom."

"I do not specialize in family affairs." She shook her head. "Also this is a huge favor."

"You're her godmother. I was thinking that they'd release her to you." He smiled. "You can always leave her with me and Dia. We'll look after her."

"Marcus," she began. "This is random and out of the blue. I'm in no position today to take in a child. I thought the god mom thing was bullshit and nothing would happen." She stood up. "I'll see what I can do though, I'll get her and you better love her and protect her Marcus. Better than you did with Esai. I know he fucked up badly but damn. I don't get how the club is put before family. Nothing is more important than family."

"Your dad, he was excited about you. He'd talk to me about you. His ray of Sunshine. I also remember your mom calling you Satan's incarnate." He laughed. "I'm seeing Satan right now."

"I'm irritated, I haven't had sex in literal months, I got kicked off a big case, I'm working on a new one. I'm not pleasant at all and for that I am sorry. I just am on a path to failure and I do not know how to handle that. I'm failing for the first time in my career." She sniffled. "Now I'm crying. My aunt is on a vacation, so I don't have her to hug me. I'm just lost. Now I have to go rescue my godchild. I do not know why they picked me to be the godparent, I am shit."

"Fail and learn from it." Marcus nodded slowly. "I want you to be careful. Word is the Sons are looking to get you out of the picture. This is me giving you a heads up. Tuck tail and get out of dodge after you do this."

"Tell them to send an assassin, I'll be ready." She sighed. "I'll call you when I have her. I'll be phoning in a favor soon."

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

"You know how to use the lights." Sunny dropped to the sofa. "Why are you back in my house? Thought we parted ways for good?"

Happy shrugged slightly. "Kept the key. Thought it'd come in handy. I was right. The clubhouse is packed, the only motel we have in Charming is booked. Some cunt of an ADA busted a party. Made it so a lot of people got stuck."

"A cunt huh?" She turned the light on. "A pretty one at least?"

"Dunno haven't seen it." He smirked. "You look beat."

"Long ass day. I met with Marcus who lied to me about meeting a caseworker to get custody of Esai's daughter. Man, I turned up to something different." She shook her head. "I'm running on empty. Tell me more about this cunt though. I need a distraction."

"I just know she's referred to as a cunt." He shrugged. "I can't say anymore than that."

"Well, I'm gonna go shower." She stood up. "You should be careful. People might think you're a snitch or something. Just by being near me."

"Damned if I do, damned if I don't." He shrugged again. "Tell me about your long ass day? I'm a good listener you know that right?"

"I didn't see your Harley out front." She stretched her arms above her head. "Didn't want to be caught here? Or what?"

"You're avoiding the question." He shook his head, studying her carefully. "I parked where I wanted to. Ain't nothing wrong with that."

"Now you're avoiding the question." She laughed as she removed her holster and dropped it onto the table before doing the same with her badge. "Perks of this job? I'm an honorary US Marshal, it's weird, I know." She shook her head. "Some dumbass guy has given me the temporary power to arrest people and I plan on abusing it. I don't think you should be here, alright? I don't want your club getting pissed off at you because you saw me. I'm pretty sure I have a target on my head and I'm pretty sure if Jackson had the chance, he'd shoot me himself but if he can't, I'm sure Tig would be overjoyed to handle it but something tells me that Jackson is going to be a dick and try to have you do it. So, can you leave? I don't want you in that position and I can't have my blood on your hands if Jackson gets pissed off and has your ass killed."

"I swear, when I told you way back when to leave town, that you would stay away for good." Happy stood up, easily towering over the brunette. "If I tell you to get out of town now, would you consider listening to me?" He pulled his gun out of the waistband of his jeans. "The hit is already out and you're right. I'm supposed to do my job but I can't bring myself to do it because you're not doing shit to me." He shrugged his shoulders. "Quit while you've still got your life, this war isn't for you to fight Sunshine. Be smart, I know you're smart. Get out of here for a week or forever. I'll let them know you never showed up and that I waited as long as I could. Don't be stupid about this. It's not your war, so leave it the fuck alone."

"I can't leave it alone." She shook her head. "I can't…"

"Don't be a fucking idiot, don't die for this club. Don't be your dad and don't be JT. Don't die for a club that doesn't give a fuck about you." Happy growled. "They don't care that you're a kid of a First 9 member. They want you dead, they don't care about you. Don't lose your life because you can't separate professional and personal shit. Hey, look at me." He grabbed her chin. "You fucking pack a bag and you get the fuck out of here or I will put a bullet between those eyes of yours Sunshine. _Get. The. Fuck. Out._ "

* * *

 **Um, I suck at updating. It's been months, I know. I've been dealing with a lot so my stories have sat on the back burner for a bit. Well they've sat there for so long they kinda went up in flames but it's a new year and I'm trying to iron out an update schedule. So, I hope there are still readers because I'd feel really bad if I lost all of you because I sucked at updates. So, I'm aiming for once a week for the updates, probably on Thursdays from here on out.**


	11. Wet

_You are my **sunshine** , my only **sunshine**_

 _You make me **happy** when skies are gray_

 _You'll never know dear, how much I love you_

 _Please don't take my **sunshine** away…_

* * *

"The only Son I'm afraid if is Jackson. He's impulsive and unpredictable when he's angry." Sunshine looked around the room. "I've been gone for a week now and what? Everything is back to normal for them?"

"I don't see why you ran." Gia looked at Sunny and shook her head slowly. "That's giving them the win and freedom to do whatever the fuck they want without consequence."

The brunette scoffed, adjusting herself on the sofa before looking at her friend. "It'll catch up to them. That's what I'm waiting for. You can only do so much before you're faced with dealing with your shit. I also value my life. I was way too into that. I let it consume my life and now that I've had a break. I see everything so damn clear. Gia, Patterson is being fucking played by Jax and Tara. Emilia is going to be fucked over too. Jax doesn't give a fuck about anyone other than Tara."

"You're so sure that shit will go sideways?" Gia nodded slowly. "I hope Tyne comes out of it alive. I kinda like her."

"I hope she does too." She smiled softly. "I however, am still going to work on cases and get shit done. I may have a target on my head but I will fly under the club's radar."

"You better not wander off and get yourself killed. I'm not explaining that to your aunt. Nope. I'm not getting yelled at again." She shook her head frantically. "Your aunt scares me so, please don't go out and do something stupid Sunny. You gotta stay alive. I need to see you have babies and get married to a real man."

"I'll be fine." Sunny stood up. "I'm going to work on a case or two and come straight back. Alright? The only detour I'll make is to that tattoo shop. Since I have time, I was thinking about getting that tattoo finally."

"You're not far enough out of town." Happy stopped behind the familiar brunette and shook his head. "If I can find you, anyone can find you."

Sunny turned around slowly. "Just because I left my home, doesn't mean I'll stray so far away from my career." She studied him carefully. "I am not hiding from anyone. I'm just here to get a tattoo."

"Hope it ain't something stupid." He shook his head. "Like a dumb dragonfly or a butterfly. Let me guess, you're getting a flower."

"No." She laughed. "You are a piece of work. You go from being a hardass to less of a hardass in a split second." She shook her head. "I'm being a girl and getting 'you make me happy when skies are gray'." She shrugged. "Get it?"

He nodded slowly. "I think it's stupid but you're stupid so it fits." He smirked at her. "I'm gonna do it, alright?"

"Um, no." She shook her head. "I have an appointment with Teagan and I love the way her lettering looked on her website and social media. You don't even work here."

"Know it all doesn't know it all." He laughed. "When I don't have club obligations, I work here. It's fun. I like tattooing. Alright?"

"Fine." She shrugged. "Make it pretty, alright? Alright? Alright?" She smiled. "Thanks for not killing me that night. I appreciate it."

"Whatever." He shrugged. "I wish you'd listen better when I tell you to leave but hey, you left somewhere just not far away. If I can find you, so can Tig or Kozik. Maybe even another charter's member."

"Blah, blah, blaaaaah." She shook her head as she sat down. "I don't wanna hear it. Okay? I'm not naive Happy. I know I'm the club's biggest enemy right now. Can I undo what I've done? Nope. Do I regret trying to find justice? Nope. Am I focusing on shit I can handle and accomplish? Yes." She smiled as she pulled her hoodie off. "I did what I did and I'll continue to kick ass as an ADA. I just won't be in the club's shit. It'll all hit the fan sooner or later. A lot of lives will be lost, a lot of lives will be changed and I'll be kicked back in my chair smiling and nodding. I just hope you won't be a casualty."

He gave her a nod before pulling his gloves on. "Where do you want this?"

"Do you really hate the idea?" She tapped her right forearm. "There. I want it there."

"I think it's you." He shrugged. "Who am I to judge on tattoos and placement?"

"So, are you going to be friendly with me no matter what is between me and your club?" Sunshine sighed as she closed her eyes and relaxed into the chair. "It's a bit weird that we ran into each other here out of all places."

Happy looked at her before shrugging once again. "It's not weird, it's a fucking coincidence. Those are real things you know."

She smirked. "No, no." She shook her head. "What's the actual reason?"

"I wanted to make sure you were alive. I came in to visit the owner, he's my buddy, he gets to talking about some pretty bitch named Sunshine and I figured that is a name that isn't gonna be repeated too often." He started to write on her arm. "I hijacked your appointment."

"I don't like you." She shook her head. "I hate you so much right now. I don't understand you whatsoever. I don't get you. You were supposed to kill me and here you are, doing my tattoo."

"I've had your back since you were a kid. I tell you to do shit because I know when shit is going sideways and you don't like to fucking listen." He growled. "If you listened, you wouldn't have come back. You would be far away, doing your job, living a comfortable life not holed up somewhere while you wait to see what happens next. What kind of fucking life is that?"

"I came back because I took a case. I didn't expect it go to shit. I know the club has a reputation to fuck over police but I thought I could outsmart them." She shrugged. "It's not the kind of life I want to live. I do wanna be comfortable and I do wanna live without worrying about the club sending some Hitman that I've never seen because that's a thing. I've got a security detail following my every single move. That BMW and the SUV, cops. The blonde that's browsing the tattoo design book like she's going to get something, cop. I have no fucking life anymore. It's my fault though. I don't wanna talk anymore, just do the tattoo."

"You have anger issues." Happy tangled his hands in the brunette's hair. "Thinking you can cop an attitude with me?" He pulled her hair roughly and smirked as she inhaled sharply. "Because you're some big bad ADA?"

"Yeah." Sunny smirked as she studied his face and nodded slowly. "You love the attitude." She licked her lips, chuckling as she felt his grip tighten on her hair. "What're you gonna do about my attitude huh?"

"You'll see." He released her hair and smiled as he pulled his knife from the holster on his hip. "You've been trying my patience since the day we first met." He gripped the bottom hem of her shirt. "I always had to remind myself that you were jailbait…"

"Yeah?" She bit her bottom lip, watching as he cut up the middle of her shirt. "That would've been fun, sneaking around with an older guy." She took another deep breath, feeling the cold of the blade on her skin, sending a slight shiver through her body as she waited for his next move. "Guess it's what we're kinda doing now."

He nodded, pressing kisses on her neck. "Something like that." He grumbled as he dropped the knife to the bed and rested his hands on her hips. "Less talking, more sucking." He smirked at her as he pushed her down to her knees.

She nodded, quickly unbuckling his belt and pulling it free of the loops. "Bossy." She murmured softly, smiling at the sound of the zipper grating. "Damn." She murmured as she yanked his boxers down, freeing his thick, hardening member. "I've dreamt about this moment before." She whispered, hooking her hair behind her ears before she gripped his cock with one hand while wetting the palm of her right hand with her spit. "So big."

"You look good on your knees." Happy rasped, his dark eyes watching the brunette carefully as she began to stroke his length, her hands cold and pleasant as she kept the slow pace. "Use your mouth." He urged, pushing his hips forward and watching as she parted her lips, taking just the mushroom head in her mouth. "More." He thrust again.

Her eyes went wide, causing an evil grin to spread across his face. He continued to thrust until she took more of him into her mouth. "Get it wet and it'll be easier." He closed his eyes briefly before opening them again. "Don't tease me." He started to walk forward, causing her to move backwards on her knees until she bumped against the wall. "Get it fucking wet Sunshine."

She nodded, taking him deeper into her mouth, ignoring the reflex of her throat wanting to push him out. She locked her eyes on him, a moan coming from her throat as he started to thrust his hips. She shook her head before pushing hip away from her. "Can't."

"You can." He grabbed her hair, pushing back into her mouth, before feeling her nails digging into his thighs. "Stop it. I wanna show the big bad ADA who's the real boss."

She dropped her hands to her sides and nodded. "Sorry." She murmured as she took the cock back into her mouth, bobbing her head slowly as she continued to get him wet with her saliva. "You're the boss."

"That's fucking right." He pulled her up to her feet roughly and pushed her towards the bed. "Undress, then on all fours. You hear me?" He picked up his discarded belt and snapped it. "Huh Sunshine?"

"Yes," She nodded as she pushed her jeans and panties down, trying to hide her excitement as she positioned herself. "Good enough for you boss?"

Happy nodded, studying the brunette's body before he brought the belt down roughly on her ass. "Gotta listen better." He moved onto the bed, pausing behind her on his knees. "You're a little fucking slut." He ran his hands over her ass before settling a hand between her legs. "An eager and soaked slut."

"Please?" She looked back at him, lust making her eyes dark. "Please fuck me. I'm you're little fucking slut."

"See, the ones with the attitudes always turn into submissive little sluts in bed." He chuckled as he stroked his member a few times and positioned himself at her center before pushing into her roughly. "You're gonna get an attitude adjustment, you hear-."

"Sunshine! Sunshine!" The voice pulled Sunny out of her dream, eliciting an irritated groan. "Sunny wake up!"

"No, no, no, no!" Sunny covered her face with her pillow and screamed. "No! I was so close! Dream me was getting the fuck of her life and mine and you wake me up!? It better be for something extremely important!"

"It is." Gia nodded as she crawled under the blankets with the brunette. "I'm afraid to sleep in the guest room myself and I heard your loud ass moans, I thought you snuck a dude in here. Who was your slutty dream self fucking?"

"I needed like five more minutes." She shook her head as she dropped the pillow. "Fuck you, you stupid ass bitch." She smacked Gia with the pillow. "You know I need dick."

"Real dick not dream dick." Gia snuggled up to the brunette. "I'm sorry that you're sexually frustrated like crazy. Just see if Joey will give you some dick. It'll be divorced sex."

"No, dream me was getting some good dick from Happy." She laughed. "You know I want him and I finally get him in my dream at least and you wanna interrupt." She covered her face and laughed as she saw her phone light up. "Pass me that please. Make yourself useful."

"I'm sorry!" Gia laughed as she passed Sunny the phone. "Here bitch."

"It's just a text." She shook her head. "Apparently there was a shooting in Charming and they need me at the courthouse to play bad cop. I'm ignoring Patterson. I'm going back to sleep. You better not interrupt anymore if my wet dreams or so help me God."

"I love the tattoo." Gia rubbed Sunny's arm. "It's very cheesy but very you."

"Whatever." She pulled her arm away and smiled. "Looks like we need to pay a visit to Charming. Tomorrow morning."

* * *

 **I just needed a little more Sunny and a little more Happy. being together and awkward and their sexual tension and whatnot. so I tossed this in before the real action gets started.**


	12. Pretty Okay

"I don't want part of this nonsense." Sunshine looked at Tyne. "I am losing myself and I am losing my life. I have a security detail on me, like that's going to stop anything from happening to me. I should've never gotten involved."

"Oh but you did." Tyne nodded. "You got involved because you had a passion for it. You felt like you needed to get some sort of justice and here we are. It's not always going to be easy and you knew that when you took the job. You want out? Write a resignation letter and nominate someone for your job. We do what we have to do."

"I know that!" She nodded as she tucked her hair behind her ears. "I know what we've signed up for and I know what I have to do and I know that it may very well cost me my life. You're playing games and you're playing with a very dangerous man. Jax isn't going to keep a deal and he's never going to give you information that will get his club in a lot of trouble."

"I'm well aware that I've made a deal with the devil." Tyne shrugged. "We do what we have to do in desperate situations."

"Alright." Sunny nodded. "So, what was this shooting then? Club related? Unrelated?"

"There wasn't a shooting, I just needed to get you back into the office." Tyne smiled. "Look at me, I need you at my side. It doesn't have to be in the public eye, we can keep this between the two of us. It will be fine. I promise that I won't let anything happen to you."

"Wow." She sighed. "I can't believe this. I have eyes on me. Club eyes and if they think that I'm still after them. I'm dead. Like as in no longer alive."

"You'll be fine." The older woman nodded slowly. "I wouldn't put you in harm's way on purpose."

.

.

.

.

"Thanks for agreeing to meet me." Emilia looked over at Sunny and nodded. "I've been thinking a whole lot since the last time we spoke. I haven't seen your name on any documents either."

Sunshine shrugged. "That's because I've been playing nice and keeping my distance. As your agreement with my boss stated. I'm not to be involved with anything Tara related. I'm going to be in fucking shock if she makes it out of this mess alive."

"Jax seems to be working out and doing what he needs to do for Tara and the boys." The brunette nodded. "I've got super paranoid Gemma though. Something bad is going to happen."

"Well, I don't care." Sunny shrugged again. "Whatever happens happens and you need to get your distance now. You've got a kid to think about and you gotta be smart."

"Is that why you've been keeping distance?" Emilia sighed. "I'm not here as an attorney. I'm here as a former friend or whatever."

She waved the brunette off. "I've been keeping my distance because I went home one night to find a Son waiting in the shadows to put a bullet between my eyes. You can't trust that club. I'm legacy and I'm still top of the hit list. If they don't care about killing me then they won't care about killing you either."

"Then how are you sitting here?" Emilia inquired. "Huh?"

"Maybe because I've got this shiny new badge and gun. Honorary US Marshal." Sunny drizzled ketchup over her fries. "Security detail, police escorts. I can't even leave my house without someone on me. It's not fun being the club's number one enemy but I'll tell you right now. I'll be happy as fuck if I ever get to prosecute."

"I need your opinions. I'm in a moral crisis with a client. She's about to do something I can't agree with." Emilia sighed. "Do I just walk away and release her as my client?"

"Yeah. Your career your choice bitch." Sunshine knocked on the table. "Don't become morally corrupt for a paycheck. Also, like let me get that Lamborghini though. I'm thinking that I joined the wrong profession. I need to switch to doctoring and shit."

"You know that car is my baby." She laughed. "Keep driving that stupid Benz though. I still have some shithead former US Marshal running around causing trouble."

"Lalalalala." She plugged her ears. "Lalalalala, I'm not here for that. I'm here to eat these fries and drink this lovely cake batter milkshake and just be happy before shit hits the fan."

"Whatever. I just want to talk." Emilia groaned. "But my phone is interrupting us. Not fair. I have to go. Craziness awaits!"

"Buh bye." Sunshine rolled her eyes as she stood up and grabbed her shake. "Taking this to go. Keep your head down. I would hate to see you lose it. Then who'd be my archenemy?"

 **SOA**

"You want to do what?" Emilia looked at Tara before shaking her head slowly. "You want to do what?"

"I need to make sure Jax or Gemma don't get custody of my boys." Tara nodded. "You have read those statements just like Lowen has. You know what kind of monster I'm dealing with. I can't let my boys be left in the care of them."

"I can't condone this but if you have to do it. If this is the only way you think you can do this, then do it Tara." She sighed. "I will work with Lowen to make sure that all of the paperwork is in order and ready."

"I want Wendy, she'll take the boys if I go to jail." She nodded slightly, her green eyes on Emilia. "I have to protect those two boys no matter what."

"I get it. I'm a mother too." Emilia sighed. "I just hope it all works and it doesn't backfire on you or us. What's plan B? What else can we do to ensure that those boys go with Wendy if you for some reason end up in jail?"

"I have another idea but I'm not sharing anything with you. I just wanted to be open about this deal. It's a good deal for me and my boys. Writing it all out to make sure that even if I'm behind bars, you both have my account of everything." Tara nodded. "Lowen said it doesn't indict me or Jax, it just makes it so he comes off as unfit."

"It does." She rubbed her forehead. "Listen to me. We're in this together and we're going to make sure that this is resolved. I want to keep you out of jail Tara. So, just keep a cool head, don't act on impulse and definitely don't deviate from your usual routine. It'll look suspicious."

"I think the whole don't look suspicious thing is out of the window." Tara scoffed. "So, you never really got deep with your history with Jackson and Sunshine."

"Because it's irrelevant to you and me." Emilia nodded. "I was in school with Sunshine. I met Jax on chance and bragged about a handsome guy to Sunny showed her a picture and found out it's a really small fucking world out here. We have this thing though. A love and hate relationship between me and Sunny. She brings out the best and the worst in me. I get competitive and I love to win. I have to win against her. I don't know why that's a thing but I just do. So, this is a big thing for me and for us."

"Do you think he's a monster?" She studied the brunette carefully. "You don't have the history that I do or Sunny does with him but you have to have an opinion."

"I don't see him as a monster but I don't think he's the type of guy I'd chose to have kids with." Emilia nodded. "Honestly speaking? He's the last man I would have kids with. That's saying a whole lot too because I was younger and dumb when I got knocked up with my daughter, right? I was a cliche, good girl with the bad boy and blah blah blah. My daughter was a slip up, I'll admit that and if I would've known I was pregnant in the first month, I probably wouldn't have gone through with the pregnancy. Her dad is a monster. It's a bad situation, he's not around. So, your boys are lucky in that sense. Jax is around and he's trying to be a dad."

"Devil in blue jeans." She chuckled. "I've been in love with Jax since I can even remember. There was just something about him. He was adventurous. We always had fun and a few times we got in trouble together. I just had to get out Charming, better myself and my situation. I always wanted to be a doctor. I wanted Jax to come with but Gemma had her claws in him."

"He has a stupid smile." Emilia nodded. "It's the stupid ass smile that gets you. But I guess he has a type, successful brunettes."

"Then how do you explain Wendy? Or Ima?" Tara covered her mouth. "I don't think I've said that out loud before to anyone."

"Blondes? You see, it didn't work, right? Two blondes together is very tacky." She laughed. "Guys are dicks, when they get in their emotions they're gonna go for the opposite. Someone who won't remind them of the girl they're fucking over. My ex, he had this thing for redheads. Like not even natural redheads but the ones with the fiery red hair from boxed dyes."

"Yeah, I can see it." She laughed. "I don't know, I didn't think that I'd like you but you're pretty okay."

"I'll accept that, pretty okay." Emilia smiled. "I'm pretty okay. We're going in the right direction, hell, in a month or so, you may even think of me as almost an acquaintance."

"I wouldn't push it." Tara smirked. "But we'll see. Just get me through this. I'm counting on you and Lowen."

.

.

.

.

"This is a thing." Sunshine murmured as she twisted the badge in her hand. "This is a thing and I'm responsible for it. This gives me a new power and I may not even want that."

She dropped the badge to the table before rubbing her forearm, trying not to do any damage to the healing tattoo. "I want to know if we have any new news regarding my case?"

"I'm so annoyed with that outer inner monologue." Gia shook her head slowly. "Uh, nothing new. I mean, we've got a dead hooker. Gemma Teller's old man is apparently a murderer now. So that's a thing that's happening."

"Are you sure Gemma didn't pull the trigger and frame her man?" She scoffed. "A dead hooker is no concern of mine unless the club did it."

"He's tied to the club." She looked up from the folder. "He's in business with Jackson and the club. Oh but I got this tip off, I was eavesdropping and this US Marshal is teaming up with Patterson to take down the club. Turns out he's the brother of the dead nurse Tara helped that Son kill in jail."

"Oh lovely." Sunshine grabbed the file and nodded. "Nothing's better than a pissed off family member who's in a position of power."

"I want you to know that I love you so much but you can't be involved in this because you are a trouble magnet." Gia snatched the folder back. "I wanted to tell you because I need your advice, I've never gotten to work on a case directly with Patterson. I want to make a solid impression so if for any reason you die, I can take your place."

"Oh." Sunny laughed. "So when my body is on ice you're going to be swearing in as ADA? Okay bitch, you're lucky I love you and am all for woman being bosses. You got this though babe. You can do this, it's all about logic and gut."

"If I had a dick, I'd give you some." She winked. "You're so good to me. Volunteering to mentor me and shit through this. I love you so much."

"See, now, no." She shook her head slowly. "I don't like you so much right now. We have work to do." She sat down and spun around in her chair. "Fine, I'll run counsel for you. You so owe me for this though. I'll be cashing in on this favor."


	13. authors note

This is for all my supporters, old and new ones. I apologize for the lack of follow through that I have had when it comes to my stories. It's not intentional, it's far from it. I've hit a point in life where I have other things to focus on. My mental health and my child being my major priorities. Along with school, I just haven't had the muse or motivation to write full chapters and update my current stories. Second Chance, Son Shine, Broken Legacy and Paradise Lost. I do have all these amazing ideas and subplots for all of these amazing stories outlined though. I just happen to be having fun just writing other things at the time. Like little one shots of my OCs where everything happened differently. I haven't forgotten about these stories and I hope I can get to a mental point where I can start updating them all again. Until that point, I just want to give you all my love and appreciation for sticking with me throughout all if this mess. From the OGs that read A Jaded Fantasy to those who came a board for Broken Legacy. Thank you so much. You all mean a lot to me.


	14. Squad

"What's her conviction rate?" Tara crossed her arms as she looked between Lohen and Tyne. "How good is she at what she does? How do I know she won't turn around and convict me?"

Tyne shook her head and scoffed. "You're worrying too much Tara. She doesn't make moves without my permission. She's off the case. She has her focus elsewhere. If you cooperate, you and your boys get a new life. A new book."

"She's right." Lohen nodded slowly. "I think you should keep working with her."

"Or, you can fess up to the shit you caused and do your time." Sunshine walked into the office. "I mean, it's the right thing to do. After all, you volunteered at the jail to relay club messages to Otto Delaney. I have an anonymous source that can verify that…"

"Miss Vellenueva, to what do we owe this pleasure? The badge not fun for you?" Tyne eyed the brunette. "I thought it'd give you a new evil to set your sights on."

"It's a whole lot of fun. However, I came to grab some paperwork. I have warrants to issue." She smiled. "It's been a busy past few days. My CI has turned up some amazing shit. Wait until you see what I have brewing. I know how much you've wanted the cartel, well that may be _my_ win soon."

Tara looked at the brunette and shook her head. "You shouldn't mess with the cartel… They broke my hand trying to kidnap me. I lost myself and my career for a while."

Sunny nodded as she slipped a few folders into her bag. "Listen, we're not some squad who doles out advice. You didn't listen to me and you're going to be in a shitload of danger and those two won't be able to save you, Tara. The safest place for you would be in a nice cell in county."

"Enough." Tyne waved her hand slowly. "I think you should leave, you've gotten your paperwork and you're good to go. I'll see you around."

"Of course." She smirked. "I'm out of here. I'll be around, just wait for this win. I'm going to make so much history in this county."

"Can you guarantee my boys' safety?" Tara sat back down and tried her hardest to relax once more. "If I give you what you need. Can you guarantee it?"

"Yes." Tyne nodded and smiled. "They'll be safe and you'll be safe too. New names and a fresh start. Away from Charming and away from any charters. All you have to do is give me information that will help me bring down the club and tie them to these crimes. Think hard Tara and we'll both walk away from this deal happy."

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

"Patterson thinks that I'm working on the cartel." Sunshine looked at Gia and shrugged. "But, I have every intention on taking down Tara and the club first and the cartel would just be a bonus. Look at this pile of files, failed RICO cases on the Sons. Juice was their weak link and I can get why they used that angle but all they seemed to do was give me a slow death sentence. If I can get in his head and get him to flip, then I can do what none of them could. I can bring down the Sons."

Gia shook her head slowly. "But you said he was a cool guy, why put him in a position where he will end up killed?"

"He's dead right now," She furrowed her brow. "Roosevelt signed his death warrant. No matter what Juice does for Jax or the club, he's going to end up dead. It's a matter of when. His clock is ticking. If I can get him to work with me, I can save him from that. I can make sure that he walks away with his life and that he can rewrite his story. _If_ that's what he wants to do."

"Well, you better figure out a pitch because here he is," Gia mumbled. "I'm gonna stay and watch you work your magic."

"Not you too." Juice rubbed his wrists as he stood on the other side of the metal table, his brown eyes bouncing between the two women. "I don't have shit to say."

Sunny shrugged as she opened a folder and stared at a photograph. "Well, I have all day to sit here in this room with you. We can go back and forth but I have a deal and I think you should take it Juice." She smiled coyly. "Give me shit on the club and I'll give you a deal of a lifetime, keep your life and start off fresh. Somewhere far away, out of country."

He scoffed. "No. I've done shit before and now I'm in deep shit with Jax and the club. I can't help you. I won't help you."

"Your mom, your sister…" She started laying out photographs. "Beautiful family. Your sister is pregnant, did you know that? Six months, she's having a _boy_." She looked up at Juice and smiled. "Shame that her boyfriend is facing a life sentence, murder charge. Damn, that'd leave you as the kid's only possible male role model. Just think about it, life elsewhere, maybe a tropical place, your family could visit you."

Juice sat down, covering his face briefly before looking at the pictures. "How did you get these? I haven't even told anyone in the club where they live."

"You don't get to where I am without using resources properly." Sunny smiled at Juice again. "I'm not making some threat and I'm not giving you an ultimatum. I'm giving you a chance to get out _alive_."

He studied the pictures closely before looking up. "I can't help you. I'm not in the inner circle anymore. They don't fucking trust me. My only purpose is to do what they tell me to do when they need me. I have nothing to offer you."

"I mean, you can tell me if the guns were supplied by the club." She started to lay out a series of pictures upside down. "Victims of the shooting. Innocent little souls taken too early. Yeah, the kid needed a whole lot of mental help but had he not had access to this gun, the families of these lost souls wouldn't be mourning the loss of a child."

Juice kept his eyes on the brunette before shaking his head. "I can't give you anything that would help this. What done is done Sunshine. You've got a death sentence. You're marked, it's a matter of time before it happens and we'll be buried in the woods together."

"I am willing to die." Sunshine flipped over the pictures. "I am willing to die to bring justice for these young lives that were lost. We need someone to take reponsibility for this senseless tragedy. This, look at _this_. I can walk out of here today and a bullet can get me right between the eyes but at least I tried my hardest to take down the devil. What will be the legacy you leave behind Juan Carlos?"

 **SOA**

"I'm aware that I'm supposed to be afraid of you or whatever." Sunshine turned around, coming face to face with Jackson Teller. She let out an irritated sigh before pushing him away and stepping around him. "If you're going to kill me, then just kill me already." She shrugged slightly. "Otherwise, just stop with your shit."

Jax looked at the brunette before reaching out and grabbing her arm before yanking her towards him violently. "You're messing with shit that you don't understand and you're being a fucking idiot." He slammed her back against the wall. "I don't know why you're on a suicide mission when you can just leave shit alone."

"There you are," She smirked at him. "The big bad wolf, here to do his own dirty work. What? Ran out of guys to send in to scare me huh?"

"If you want something done right then you do it yourself." He wrapped a hand around her throat and started to apply pressure. "I don't think you realize that I will kill for my family. For my wife, my boys, even Gemma." He nodded. "You're messing with shit and you're making my wife feel as if she had no fucking choice. Here I am, making deals with the fucking devil."

"You remember your dad right?" She rested her hands on his wrist. "I don't think he'd be too proud to know you turned into a woman beater."

He shook his head. "I think he'd be proud to know that I did everything to protect my kids and my family. You're the enemy. You're coming after what I love the most and I can't have that. You know what shit you got into when you came back and started to go after my wife. You deserve what's about to happen."

"Do your worst." She shrugged. "I'm ready to meet my maker."

"You would really die for some bullshit?" He growled at her. "I thought you were smarter than that."

Sunshine looked at him. "I'll gladly die trying to improve my surroundings. You are really, really, really proving that your dad died in vain. That his death and what he wanted for the club meant nothing. I read that manuscript too… He left me a copy too."

He let go of her, taking a step back. "That is bullshit. What he wanted cannot be done. This club is too far gone for redemption. Gemma and Clay did too much damage to this club."

"You're doing too much damage." She rubbed her back slowly. "Kids are dead, innocent kids are dead because of your club Jackson. What if it had been Abel or Thomas? You ever stop and put yourself in the shoes of those grieving parents. This isn't about taking down your club, it's about getting some closure for those parents."

"Sunny! I let myself in, I brought us pizza!" Emilia walked into the living room before pausing. "Are you okay?"

Jackson looked at the other brunette. "Are you serious?"

"I got fired." Emilia looked at Jax. "I got fired by Tara and fuck it. I'm willing to settle an old grudge and have pizza with Sunshine. What are you doing here?"

"Well, he was gonna kill me." Sunshine looked at Emilia before looking at Jax. "Now he's leaving and rethinking his life choices. He's turning into a _snitch_ to save Tara. The one thing he hates the most and he's becoming one. God, I can just imagine the church you had with the guys about that move."

"I mean more power to you." Emilia shrugged. "You know, he's gonna give enough information to get arrested but none of it will stick for long enough and Patterson will be back at square one. I like this method. Play the system."

Sunny nodded slowly. "But, they're still making it look like Tara is the one that'll snitch and you know who will have issue with that?"

"Gemma." She smirked. "Yeah, well Tara is gonna die at the hands of that woman when Jax goes to jail for his bullshit with Patterson. I can't wait to see how it unfolds."

Jackson looked between the brunettes before stalking towards Emilia and backing her against the wall. "You were fired because you weren't doing shit."

"Because Tara wasn't taking my advice! She wants to do it how she wants to! Divorce, wills, custody arrangements." Emilia glanced up at Jax. "You're not a scary man physically but mentally, you're a monster."

"What makes you think Gemma would try to kill Tara?" Jax looked down. "Tara isn't working with the feds."

Sunshine laughed. "She is. She's still making a deal with Patterson. Lohen and her were in the office when I stopped by earlier. Jax, you didn't marry a stupid woman. You married a woman who will save her kids at any cost."

"It feels a little out of character for us to be talking about this to him after he roughed you up." Emilia shrugged. "It all feels out of character."

"Agreed." Sunny nodded as she sighed. "It is out of character. Jax, look, you two are gonna do what you gotta do and a lot of people are gonna get hurt in the process but who cares? As long as you and Tara are good."

"I'm just saying, it's very out of character. For all of us." Emilia shrugged again. "Like I feeling as if someone is taking a piss."

"Probably is." The brunette rubbed her back softly. "Jax, I think it's best if you just go now. Thanks for shoving me around. I'll be seeing you soon."

* * *

 **So, I kinda just had fun with this chapter. Especially towards the end. Since nothing was really flowing so why not have the characters take notice of it. It's getting better though. Building towards a nice climax. So just wait for it.**


	15. Peace

"Do you wanna press charges?" Tyne looked over Sunshine before shaking her head. "So, you say Jax Teller did this to you? You have a witness?"

Sunny shrugged as she nodded her head. "I'm not pressing charges. I've had a man do much worse to me." She rolled her eyes. "I'm just passing through. Grabbing the last of my things from my old office. Figured moving out of here would kinda solidify things. You kinda stripped me of my title and all that I've worked for during the last decade or so but whatever."

"You're brilliant at what you do but you got too emotionally attached and you got too cocky." The older woman shook her head. "You'll have your position back in no time. Being a Marshal serves you well though. You're really on the frontline."

She scoffed and nodded again. "Yeah because I busted my ass in school and in my early years to end up as a US Marshal. Oh the joys of sitting through classes and having men tell me that I won't become shit." She looked at the badge. "I mean, this is empowering. I'm back in the middle of the boy's club. Ass grabbing and catcalling. Oh the joys."

Tyne smirked at the brunette. "I know that you'll overcome the diversity. It's nothing against you personally but I think you need this. Harden you and make you better for when you rise back up to your former position."

Sunshine chuckled. "I'm going to be gunning for your position. I'm not gonna settle and be your fall guy anymore. I've read the reports and I'm sorry if my volatile behavior scared your precious little snitch Tara. You're not going to get anything that'll stick. You're going to get some bullshit. Tara will be free to leave with her kids and Jax will serve a few months in jail. I grew up with Jax. Nothing comes before his club or Tara. He's smarter than you give him credit for."

"I'm well aware of Mr. Teller's intelligence. I'm getting all of my ducks in a row and double and triple checking everything." Tyne smiled. "You'll see. I'll get my victory. I wish you the best. Make sure you come to our swearing in ceremony tomorrow. Gia is going to be one hell of an ADA."

"Would not miss it." Sunshine nodded and smiled. "It's going to be a night to remember."

.

.

.

.

"Boo," Juice looked in the window at Sunny and grinned at her. "You suck at being a stalker. I spotted you very quick."

"Why are you here?" Sunny glanced away from the house Jax and Tara shared and looked at Juice. "Tara needs a Son to babysit her now?"

"Babysitting Gemma. Jax told me to stay close. She's here to talk to Tara. Seemed like it was important." He shrugged. "It's about the boys."

She nodded as she opened the car door. "I get it." She stepped out. "You're escorting Gemma and Roosevelt is with Tara." She took her gun out and released the safety. "I know Gemma had to make Tara as a rat." She moved towards the house before glancing back. "You coming?"

"Should I?" Juice hurried up. "They're just talking plus Tara isn't a rat."

"Ha." She stopped at the house, glancing through the window to see Gemma and Tara arguing. "They're not just talking." She rushed towards the door, letting herself in, only to stop behind Roosevelt. "What the fuck?"

"This is Roosevelt." Eli spoke into his walkie. "I need back up at the Teller--."

Sunny flinched at the sound of a gunshot before watching Eli drop to the ground. She lost her focus for a moment before turning and looking at Juice, her mouth slightly open before she fired her gun and watched Juice fall to the ground. She moved to him. Taking his gun before moving to Gemma and grabbing her roughly. "What did you do Gemma?"

"She was taking my boys." Gemma mumbled as she looked down at Tara. "She was a rat."

"She wasn't the rat." Sunny shook her head. "Jax was working with the feds." She cuffed the woman and sat her down in the chair before kneeling beside Tara and feeling for a pulse. Shallow but there. "This is US Marshal Vellenueva, I need medical at my location. I have an officer down and a female victim who is barely breathing. I have the shooters in custody and need help right now."

"Kill me," Juice looked over at Sunny. "Please just kill me. I'm dead anyways. Please, just kill me now."

"I can't." She looked at him. "Please just don't move. I can't help you all." She kept pressure on Tara's wound before looking at Eli. "Please just wake up. I can't fucking deal with all of this blood. Eli, are you still with me man? Gemma you know you're dead right?"

Gemma looked at the brunette before down at her daughter-in-law. "I don't think so. She was still trying to skip town with the boys. Jax wouldn't want that at all."

Sunny rolled her eyes as she shifted her weight, losing her footing and landing in the water on the floor before realizing it was more blood than anything else. "Yeah but they were working together as a family and not so much as enemies. So, at the end of the day, he knew what was happening and you just took it for face value and literally tried to kill the woman your son is madly in love with."

"You should be happy, frees him up for you." She shrugged. "I don't think you'd complain too much if you were to become step mom."

"I moved on from Jackson, I'm actually into someone else." She nodded before hearing sirens drawing closer. "You better hope you just get slapped with attempted murder, maybe they'll put you in a nice cell or something. Or you know, just plead your case to Jax and hope he doesn't kill you on sight."

Gemma scoffed. "It's always the pretty ones that get caught up in the dumb shit." She shook her head. "I never wanted them together but I didn't want you and him together either. She was the lesser evil so I thought."

Sunshine glanced up at the sound of voices. "In here! I need help right now! I've got two down! Help Eli first and then Tara and then Juice! She's barely breathing but I think we have a better chance at saving him than her. Please help him, then her."

"Miss Vellenueva," Tyne walked in, her eyes going wide at the scene before her. "What happened here?"

"Tara!" Jax exploded into the kitchen, his mouth falling open at the sight of his wife on the ground before he moved and dropped beside her, pulling her into his arms. "Tara, stay with me babe. I'm here, I'm here. What happened!? Who did this!? Did you do this?" He glared at Sunshine. "What did you do?"

"Save your wife from dying at the hands of your mother," Sunshine murmured as she was helped to her feet by an EMT. "I'm fine, I'm fine. Take her, she needs to be helped. She's barely hanging on. I'm good, I'm gonna ride with Roosevelt. Juice shot him and Gemma attacked her and I shot him to disable him and get him in cuffs. Got her cuffed and it's all that happened. Alright?"

Tyne nodded slowly as she moved towards the brunette. "You'll still have to come in for a statement and then you'll be free to go. Okay Miss Vellenueva?"

"Yeah, that's fine." She nodded slowly and looked at the woman. "I'll make my statement. Oh, Jax, not everyone is a fucking monster like you and your mom. I may hate Tara most of the time but I'd never try to kill her. Throw her in prison? Yes. Kill her? No. Arrest him too, I wanna press charges, assault on an officer."

"Wait, what!?" Jax looked at Sunshine. "You can't do this! I need to be with Tara! You can't do this shit! Please!"

"Maybe you'll post bail fast enough." She murmured. "Maybe Tyne will let you be escorted in cuffs to be with Tara. It's all up to the big boss now. I'll see you at the office for a statement."

"For the last time, I told you what happened," Sunny covered her face before trailing her fingers through her hair. "I saw them arguing through the window and I entered the premises. Juice was behind me and I saw Tara on the ground and Gemma standing above her. I heard the shot and Eli dropped so I turned around and discharged my weapon. I just hit him in the leg. I couldn't bring myself to fire a fatal shot. I suck with blood too."

Tyne looked at Sunshine carefully. "Gemma and Juice are in custody. Tara is in critical condition and Eli is still holding on barely. Right place, right time."

"Can I go home?" Sunny looked at the woman. "I want a hot shower and fresh clothes. I can't do this right now. I'm an attorney. I'm not supposed to shoot people or deal with blood. I can't deal with this. I'm not equipped to deal with this."

"Take a deep breath." She held out a glass of water. "Then sip on this slowly. I'll have someone take you home. We have your signed statement and if we need anything else, I will pay you a visit. Get some rest Ms. Vellenueva."

She stood up, holding the baggy sweatshirt tight against her body as she walked out of the room. Thoroughly traumatized by the past twelve hours. All she wanted to do was curl up in her shower and hope that all the memories would wash off like the blood that stained her skin. She choked back the tears, allowing the officer to help her into the back of the SUV. "Thank you."

"No problem." He smiled at her. "Straight home?"

"Yeah," she whispered. "Straight home please."

"It'll be a quick drive." He climbed into the front and glanced back. "You were a good officer today. Although I would've put a bullet in the fucker that shot Eli. The man didn't deserve that."

"We aren't trained to kill," she mumbled as she looked out of the window. "Shoot to disarm and detain. He'll suffer enough. His club will probably put a hit on him. It'll be hell but he made his bed. I tried to help him. Save him from himself. He didn't want my help. I couldn't help him."

"Some people don't want to be saved." He nodded. "It took five officers to get Jax under control when he saw his mom. It was pretty damn insane."

"She's dead too." She laughed. "It's weird. I need sleep. It's been a long day. From being fired to finding out my best friend took my job. To this bullshit. I just need a damn shower and my bed."

"I told you it would be a quick drive." He smiled at the brunette. "I will let Patterson know you got home safe. Looks like you've got company. Do you need me to stick around?"

"No, it's a friend." Sunny opened the door and climbed down. "Thank you though." She slammed the door before moving to her home, letting herself in before securing it behind her. "You know, a text to let me know you're gonna break in would've been nice."

"Are you okay?" Happy looked the brunette over before reaching out and touching her face. "I was at the hospital with Jax, heard the officer mention that you were there."

She shook her head. "I'm not okay." She looked at him and shrugged. "I'm gonna take a shower and then go to sleep. I need to find some peace even if it's temporary."

He nodded slowly. "I thought you were a badass?"

"Yeah, well this badass can't deal with blood." She peeled off the sweatshirt. "They took my clothes but I'm still bloody." She moved through the house and into her bedroom. "I can do badass things when it comes to being an attorney but nothing else." She walked into the bathroom, turning the shower on before stripping out of the rest of the clothes and stepping inside. "I just need peace."

"Yeah, well I just wanted to check on you." He sighed. "Please call me if you need anything, okay?"

"Will you stay?" She poked her head out of the shower. "Please? I don't wanna be alone."

He nodded as he looked at her. "I'll stay with you. I'll be waiting in the living room. Take your time."

"I'm done. I thought I'd feel better being clean but I don't." She stepped out and grabbed her towel. "Gemma was ready to kill. Almost did kill Tara."

Happy pulled the brunette into a hug and nodded. "It's not easy and it won't get any easier for you. I would start to worry if you got numb to this shit. You don't seem like the type who'd get a kick out of death and blood."

"You're so comforting." She chuckled. "I'm happy that you're doing your best to comfort me. I hope I never become numb to this. It's crazy. I don't like Tara one bit most of the time but I didn't want to see her dying on a soaked kitchen floor. Then fucking Juice is gonna shot a cop and beg for me to kill him because he's dead anyways. It was all too fucking much."

"Never was one to be comforting to anyone other than my Ma and Aunt." He shrugged slightly. "I'll get your aunt here to comfort you better okay? You need that right now. Will you be okay on your own?"

"I will be fine." She nodded slowly. "I'm gonna make me a cup of tea and just relax and find some peace within my thoughts. Thank you, I appreciate it."

Happy nodded. "I'll be right back. Don't do anything stupid and don't let anyone in. Do you have your gun?"

Sunshine gave a single nod. "I won't let anyone in. I promise and if someone breaks in, I'll make sure to fire a fatal shot this time. Now go get my aunt. I kinda need her right now."


	16. Bloody

Two weeks had past and everything was slowly falling back into place. Sunshine was working her case and slowly getting into a nice and quiet routine. Her new office was anything but spacious and scenic. She had to work with the paneled wooden walls and the artificial light. The small window did nothing to brighten the room either. It was her own personal hell.

She slumped in her seat and groaned before straightening back up and covering her face. "I cannot do this."

"Knock, knock." Gia smiled. "I brought you some flowers. Brighten up the place. You were not lying when you said this place was dingy."

Sunshine looked up and shrugged. "It is but it's functional." She murmured. "What can I do for you? I'm kinda busy working through the logistics of my cases."

Gia furrowed her brow. "Look, I know that you're upset about me taking your position but I didn't think you'd hate me. It's a good move for my career. You have to understand that."

"I don't hate you, I hate your actions. That's a whole different story." She rolled her eyes. "Look, we're supposed to be best friends and you didn't even give me a heads up or any of that. Tyne told me while I was packing up the rest of my shit. Hey, you're fired but a badge is good enough for you and your years of schooling and shit."

"It happened so fast." Gia looked at the brunette. "She made the offer and it had a timer on it. I took it and I'm not sorry that I did. I have the opportunity to make change and to earn recognition. I should've told you. I'm sorry that I didn't but I needed this. You'll still amount to amazing things and there's not a single doubt that you won't end up as another ADA. This was probably my only shot. I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize." She waved Gia off. "I get it. I would have taken the opportunity as well. Do what you need to do. I am all for women being in strong positions." She stood up slowly. "Now, if you don't mind, I have some people to visit."

 **.**

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"I do not know why you're still working!" Maria groaned as she pulled Sunny into a tight hug. "You should be taking a leave. That's what you need to do."

Sunny nodded as she hugged the woman back. "I am gonna take a leave. I just gotta make sure this case is good."

"I was so worried about you that night, when Happy came to the house. I thought the worst had happened." She wiped at her eyes. "I was so relieved to see you rolled up like a damn burrito on your couch."

She smiled. "I'm sorry that you were scared but I'm okay. I am. I learned that I do kinda get faint when blood touches me. I had to go through testing to make sure I didn't catch anything. I had to talk to so many damn people about what happened. Over and over again."

"He loves you, you know?" She sat down on the sofa. "Happy. He loves you."

"No he doesn't." She shook her head slowly. "We're just friends. He's being a friend…"

"I never had a friend track down my family and make sure I was good. Never had a friend who checked in on me religiously." Maria shrugged. "He loves you. He called me and asked me how you were and if we should worry that you are still working and not talking to the therapist your job had recommended."

Sunny nodded slowly. "Okay, I guess if you say so. I miss you so much. Why did you let me do this? You should've made me be a hair stylist or something."

"I cannot in good conscience let you be a hair stylist when you rotate through three styles. Ponytail, bun and down." The woman laughed. "I let you do this because you've been so passionate about it since I can ever remember babe. It would have been bad of me to steer you into a life that you would not have been happy in. My job has its ups and downs but I wouldn't trade it for the world."

"Functional styles." She laughed as she looked at her aunt. "I have no idea what to do with my hair. You've known this since the day my mom left me with you."

Maria nodded slowly. "I know. You've gotten better at making the ponytails slick and not bumpy now. I'm so proud."

"It came with lots of practice and patience." Sunny leaned against the woman. "I have to go and talk some more with Tyne about the whole incident and that's honestly the last thing that I want to do. Then they want me to go talk to Jax about it and I really don't wanna do it."

"I still cannot believe that Gemma tried to kill Tara." She clucked her tongue and shook her head slowly. "I know that she was kind of crazy about her son and those boys but not enough to kill their mother. It's all surreal."

"I cannot believe Tara actually is still hanging on. Doctors say she'll recover. It's crazy. Gemma stabbed her in the head, but the blade didn't penetrate the skull. So, it spared her brain but fuck, that's not a fun way to go. Then she stabbed her a few times, punctured lung and that's why she was barely breathing and she lost so much blood. The entire floor was just bloody. I don't know how they'd ever want to return to that house."

"Hey, it's okay." Maria pulled her niece into her side and smiled. "I got you right now. Nothing is going to happen to you. Not over my dead body baby girl. I made a promise to your father to protect you with my life. I plan to do so until I take my last and final breath whenever God wills it."

Sunshine pulled back and wiped at her eyes. "I had a dream about my dad last night. It was the first dream I've had about him in a long time. I was sixteen and we were hanging out in the driveway. He was working on his bike and I was just reading through the manual and he kinda looked at me and was like _mija I don't want you hanging out with Jax anymore, he's not going anywhere. I want you to get out of Charming, make something of yourself. Be better than me and your mom._ Then I woke up but I woke up smiling. Then I realized that I want to move out of California when I'm finished here. Maybe just become a regular lawyer. I can't stay in California, it's too trying. I want you to come with me. You can retire and we can get a ranch somewhere. Anywhere. You choose."

"We can move," She smiled at her niece again and nodded her head slowly in agreement. She had always been against leaving Charming. This was where she settled, planted her seeds and managed to create a career that she loved but she loved her niece more and she was ready to finally take it easy and retire. "We can retire in Texas. I've always wanted a ranch with horses. I think that would be fun or maybe even Arizona."

"Whatever you want," Sunshine wiped at her tears again and smiled brightly at the woman. "I just want to be as plain as possible. Live a good life and make a decent living doing so. I want to be somewhere that I can make a difference. I can't do that here. I'm working towards justice and the government is just as corrupt as the criminals. They want to play the criminal's game to just get what they want. I can't do that anymore."

"You don't have to baby." Maria kissed the brunette's temple and sighed. "You and me baby girl. We're going to get out of here and we're going to live an amazing life. You're gonna spoil me rotten too. I know it. I love you Sunny. My Sunshine."

"I love you too," She kissed her aunt back and nodded. "Love you so much _mom_." She sighed as she rested her forehead against the woman's. "I've always should have continued to call you that. You're more deserving of the title anyway. Love you mom."

"I love you too," She wiped at her own eyes and smiled before hugging the young woman tightly and rocking them side to side. "You stay here, your room is always ready for you. I love you my Sunshine. So much."

 **SOA**

Happy rolled the toothpick between his lips, his dark eyes staying on the woman as she paced back and forth on the other side of the room. She didn't have to speak a word, he knew she was nervous, knew that she wanted to be anywhere but where they currently stood. He knew that she'd fly away if she could but he admired her for not tucking tail and fleeing. "You're gonna wear a hole in the floor."

Sunshine shrugged as she continued to pace the living room of the home. Her ears doing their best to tune out what was going on in the kitchen. She couldn't believe she was at the scene of the crime and she was even more shocked that Happy had agreed to be with her. He had been as steady as a presence the last few weeks as Maria was. She was grateful for the both of them. She was happy that she had two strong people at her sides because she was slowly breaking and she didn't know how much longer she could keep her shit together. "I don't care. I don't want to go back in there."

He easily closed the space between them in a few giant steps before he stopped her from pacing. He dropped his hands to her waist and looked down at her slightly. "Listen, do it, get it over with and you never have to deal with this shit again. You got it in you to do this shit and never look back at it."

"I don't know if I can," She rested her hands on top of his and looked up at him. "What if I get in there and it all comes rushing back and I just break down?"

"Then you break down and leave." He shrugged slightly before turning his head towards the kitchen's entry. "I say you try but if you can't even try then I'll get you out of here right now. Just give me the word."

"I want to leave." She nodded as she squeezed his hands gently before pulling on them. "Please, just get me out of here? Take me anywhere but here."

The man nodded, taking the brunette's hand and leading her out of the house and towards his Dyna. "Gotta hold on tight, okay? I lean, you just move with me."

She rolled her eyes, he gave her the same speech just an hour prior and she knew it was protocol but she always knew that he knew she would move with him. "I know Hap."

He mounted the bike, sitting still as he felt her slip behind him, her arms instinctively wrapping around his waist as she pressed herself against him. He inhaled sharply, catching a whiff of her perfume before shaking himself out of it. His body going into autopilot as he pulled off and headed towards his spot. Somewhere he knew the brunette would appreciate just as much as he did.

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

Happy reached forward, pulling Sunshine to him by her hips to position her between his legs. He glanced up at her, smirking as she covered her face and giggled. "What's so fucking funny?" He squeezed her hips before dropping his hands as she moved to straddle his legs, her hands finally dropping from her face. "What'd you do huh?"

Sunny couldn't contain herself, she had spent the last few hours, really getting to know not only Happy but herself too. She now knew that her crush was something more and she wasn't upset with it. To be honest, she was happy about it because she knew he mirrored her feelings. Under his rough exterior, he too was a softy and they seemed to be made for each other. Despite the obvious problem. _She was on the wrong side of the law_. "We're a cliche. The lawyer and the outlaw." She leaned in closer before giving him a quick kiss, only for her to feel his fingers tangled in her hair as he deepened the kiss.

"Yeah, well you can be kept on a retainer, keep my ass out of prison." He pulled back to look at her before he kissed down the column of her neck, smirking as he felt her shudder slightly. He finally had what he had been coveting for the past months. Not even months, for the past few years. Ever since he had watched her leave Charming, he had wanted her. There was just something about her he needed and wanted. Now that he finally had her, he hoped he could keep her. "You'll give me a discount right?"

"I can work with your budget." She nodded as she felt his rough hands snake under her shirt, sending another round of shudders through her body as she rested her forehead against his. "I'm hoping you won't do something so bad that I wouldn't be able to keep you out of prison though."

He shrugged, pulling her shirt over her head and tossing it to the ground before he took her appearance in carefully. The light spattering of freckles over her collarbone, the way her skin seemed to flush under his touch, the way her chest rose and fell. It was all slightly mesmerizing. He couldn't figure out why she had such an impact on him but he knew he didn't want to treat her like the ones who came before him. The woman he used and tossed out without a second thought. He wanted her to be his. He just hoped she wasn't going to tucktail and disappear on him in the next few weeks. He knew what was coming. It was going to be huge and it was going to be bloody. "I figure if I keep playing bodyguard to you, I'll stay out of trouble."

"I'm good with that." She rested her hands on his face, dragging her thumbs over his cheeks lazily as she continued to eye him. "We're gonna have fun and make memories. I hope you're ready…"


	17. Just One

"It is _stupid_." Sunshine groaned as she pulled on Happy's shirt before glancing over at him as he sprawled out across her bed. "It's a stupid cartoon. Ren and Stimpy can't even compete with Pinky and the Brain."

Happy scoffed as he eyed the brunette carefully before shaking his head. "I'm not arguing with you over that shit." He reached forward and squeezed her thigh. "Take the fucking shirt back off. I'm not done with your ass."

She shook her head as she pulled the shirt off before laying her weight on top of the man. "Hey, you know I have to eventually go to work? Right? You can't keep me here with you all day. Even though I'd rather be with you than having to go and talk some more about what happened. It's like a never-ending thing. I have to give another statement and Gemma has some lawyer and they're like but did you actually see her do it? No, but I saw and heard enough to know she had motive and intent to kill Tara. Eli pulled through so he's a witness, Juice is getting an attempted murder charge and Gemma is too but who knows? Tara is out of the woods and that's all good but whatever. Jax is a mess and he keeps calling me and I keep ignoring him because I don't want any confrontation."

"Why didn't you tell me that he put his hands on you?" He looked at her carefully. "I need to know shit like that from you."

"Because it was stupid and I knew that he wasn't going to do anything but try to scare me." She sighed as she traced his lips slowly. "Listen, I know we have this weird dynamic and we'll have to keep secrets possibly… Well, I don't want to keep any secrets from you. It wouldn't feel right. I want to tell you everything."

The man sat up, taking the brunette with him before he nodded his head. "I'll tell you everything too. I love my club, it's my fucking life and it's what I've known for most of it. It's become my family. I gotta keep my loyalty. I'm sure when Jax finds out about you and me, he'll lose his fucking mind."

She rubbed his face gently and nodded. "I'm sure my dad is rolling over in his grave. Another Son." She chuckled before kissing him softly before pulling back to look at him carefully. "I don't know what to do about Jax. Do, I listen to him bitch? I know he's gonna be still out for revenge because I had him arrested during that whole ordeal but the charges eventually got dropped and he's not in trouble."

He shrugged slightly, pulling the brunette onto his lap before pulling her into a hug as he laid back against the pillows. "I think you gotta take this shit a minute at a time. Hear him out, I mean what else can he do? Just do it in a public place. Maybe your job so if anything happens, he'll just get arrested."

"You know that you're perfect, right?" She murmured against his neck. "So fucking perfect Happy."

"No one is perfect." He rubbed her bare back softly. Enjoying the contrast of his rougher hands on her soft and silky skin. "But I'm glad you think so highly of me. If you want me to be there when you talk to Jax, I will be there."

"I'll figure it out." She yawned as she felt his hands squeeze her hips softly. "I can get used to this touching and softer side of you. I'm gonna miss you when I'm at work."

.

.

.

.

"You've been ignoring me Sunshine," Jax whispered harshly as he followed behind the brunette. Easily keeping their distance close. "Why are you ignoring me? I just want to talk to you Sunshine. About what happened…"

She glanced back and shook her head slowly. "I don't wanna talk about it. I don't even wanna talk to my job about what happened. They made me go back and recount everything that I seen and that I heard. Do you know how damaging that is huh? Of course not because you kill people without even a second thought, huh?"

He shook his head, reaching forward and grabbing her arm and pulling her to him. "I just want to talk. Alright. Thank you. You could've let her die but you didn't. You didn't take it as an opportunity to exact some revenge plan."

She shoved him backward and glared at him. "I don't hate Tara! I hate some of the shit she says and does, but I don't fucking hate her! I have _never_ hated her Jackson! I don't give a fuck how much someone annoys me, I took an oath to protect and serve and I wasn't going to let anyone fucking die on my watch. I'm not out for revenge and I don't know how many different ways I can fucking say that shit. It's fucking irritating for you to think that I'm somehow still obsessing over high school bullshit. You and I dated, it didn't work and now we're here. You're married with kids and I'm seeing someone. Get over yourself, you're not special enough and your dick wasn't amazing enough for me to still be in love with you after all of this time apart."

Jax sighed as he looked at the brunette and nodded slowly. "I see that now. Okay, it was easier to rationalize you're shit with you wanting to get even for me picking Tara when it was all said and done. I fucking get that you're not out for revenge but at the time you blew back into town like a fucking tornado, it was easier to sit and tell Tara that you were only after her because you finally were getting the chance to be vengeful."

"Pretty sure that me and Wendy got revenge when we did what we did." Sunny trailed her fingers through her hair before she started off into the distance. "I'm so happy to hear that instead of you being honest with your wife who was an accessory to a murder of a federal employee, that you said hey, Sunshine is immature and this is all her being upset because I broke her heart in high school. Whoa, the world is all about Jackson Teller? Lord! Let it be known that Jackson motherfucking Teller is the most self-absorbed asshole to ever walk this planet. Here I was thinking that Gemma was the shittiest person in the family but nope, you're taking the fucking cake, Jax."

"Okay, I fucked up!" He turned the brunette's face to look at him. "Tara is my wife and I have to do everything that I can to protect her. Even if it's feeding her bullshit lies about you. I knew who you were and what your reputation fucking was as soon as I saw you walk out of that jail. I knew it would have Tara panicked and I told her that her only bet was cutting a deal with Tyne and getting you out of the picture altogether… I couldn't even protect Tara from my own mother."

"That's because when it comes to your mom she can do no fucking wrong but yet, here we are. I warned Tara about Gemma but nope. Can't listen to me." She shook her head before turning away from Jax. "I have to go. I'm going to be late."

"Don't you even wanna know how Tara is doing?" He watched her turn around. "She's alive but she has a long way to go with recovery. She remembers what happens, she remembers you being there. You should see her."

Sunshine shook her head again. "I'm glad she made it through but I'm not going to go see her Jackson. I'm focused on me right now and getting myself through this fucking bullshit. I have trials to sit through. I have to put Juice behind bars for life, I have to help put Gemma behind bars even though they want the death penalty for both of them. I think that'd be too good for Gemma. I feel bad for Juice."

"Don't feel bad for him." Jax looked at her. "Juice is grown, he knows what he did. He tried to kill a cop."

"He tried to help your mom get away with murder." She sighed. "He's got this stupid ass blind loyalty and I don't know why but I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually. Eli pulled through. He feels guilty for what Juice did and it's fucked up. I'm not doing this." She felt herself become completely flustered and closed her eyes. "I've got shit to do. I can't keep going back and forth with you anymore Jackson. I'm so sorry."

 **SOA**

"I don't know why I'm here and why I'm doing this exactly but fuck if I don't feel bad about you possibly spending the rest of your life in prison." Sunshine looked up and shook her head slightly. "I'm sure if we had met in different circumstances, we would've become the best of friends."

Juice offered Sunny a warm smile and nodded before he leaned forward. "I'm sure we would've been the best of friends too. You seem cool. Way too good and way too different to be caught up with Jax or anyone else in the club." He leaned back and closed his eyes. "I know what I did and I know what my consequences are."

"I can cut you a deal." She set the folder on the table and opened it up before placing a pen in front of Juice. "I just need you to write any crime you know the club committed within the last five years or so. It'll get you out of here, into witsec and you'll have a chance at a new life. Don't you want to save yourself?"

"No matter how far I run and if I change my name and start over. I'll always be looking over my shoulder." He looked at her briefly. "Jax will make sure that I die. No matter where I go and who I become."

"Juice, listen to me, listen to me right now." She leaned forward taking his face in her hands. "I don't want to see you die and I don't want to see you stuck in this place. Eli is fighting so hard for you to be set free. He's saying that I got it wrong, that you panicked and you accidentally shot him. It's a fucking mess but everyone wants you out, wants you free, wants you so far from this life. Why don't you want that for yourself? Why don't you want a better life? Who knows? You can have kids and a family!"

"I betrayed Jax and the club, I don't deserve it." He stared at her, tears threatening to fall from his eyes. "I deserve what he is planning for me."

Sunny looked at him carefully. "Tig killed Opie's wife, Opie tried to kill the club President, Chibs fed information to an ATF agent, Jax had you kill an innocent." She leaned back. "I've got all this information and no one to confirm it." She glanced at the pen. "Confirm one of them and you're good Juice. I'll make sure you disappear and can never be found. I'll make sure that I can't even find you. Just please, give yourself a break and realize that you don't deserve to be killed by a mad King. You deserve a wife, a kid or three and a happy ending. Don't die for the sins of someone else."

"I'll die for my own sins." He picked up the pen and looked at Sunshine. "I cannot do anything right to get back on his good side. We used to be the best of friends once upon a time." He dropped his gaze to the paper. "Just one."


End file.
